Mothers In Medicine Podcast · Mothers In Medicine

How can we think outside the box as Mothers in Medicine? Dr Abeyna Bubbers-Jones

·29 min·1 clip

Dr Abena Bubbers-Jones says early medicine felt like being a "glorified medical secretary."

Dr Abena Bubbers-Jones joins Dr. Shola for a frank conversation about changing direction inside medicine. She starts with the early shock of realising the profession did not feel the way she had expected. At one point, she says she felt more like a glorified medical secretary than the doctor she had imagined becoming. That sense of mismatch sits underneath the whole discussion. The episode then moves into the slow, internal process of deciding to change course. She describes leaving surgery after years of turning it over in her mind. The move was not sudden. It took time, and a fair amount of private reflection. She also talks about the moment that finally pushed the decision over the line: a clinical encounter during a bladder washout that made the choice feel real. From there, the conversation opens into occupational medicine and the discovery of a specialty she had not known much about before. She makes the point that many medical specialties stay hidden until someone stumbles into them. That matters because those less obvious paths can solve real problems for doctors who want a different kind of career inside medicine. The discussion also touches on why she made the change. She says the pull was largely about lifestyle. She wanted a career where she did not have to work nights or weekends and did not have to work every day of the week. The episode also treats maternity leave as more than a pause. It becomes a chance to rethink direction, priorities, and possibility. She draws a line from motherhood to a wider sense of career imagination, including flexible roles, consulting, and building businesses. She says those paths can offer more control over time and salary. The tone stays grounded throughout. It is not about pretending everything is easy. It is about naming the tradeoffs clearly and then looking for workable options. The final advice is direct. Enjoy being a mother. Let medicine come second. Use your career as a springboard to explore opportunities that work around you, not the other way around. The episode leaves you with the sense that there are more ways to remain a doctor than the standard script suggests.

As heard by us

A clear look at career reinvention, flexibility, and maternity leave as a chance to rethink medicine.

Dr. Abena Bubbers-Jones makes a plain case for maternity leave as a moment to rethink a medical career. She looks back at an early sense that medicine was not quite what she expected, then at the move from surgery into occupational medicine, where the fit was better.

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For when you need a sane voice about medicine, motherhood, and changing course.

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