Written by Errin Weisman, DO, and Sinéad O’Kelly

It was late 2018, and Errin Weisman, DO, had an idea.

Her podcast, ‘Doctor Me First,’ was starting to go places, and with each new episode she recorded, she connected with yet another amazing person in the field who was making a difference. Dr. Weisman herself had already been on a rollercoaster of a life journey, and now she was really hitting her stride as a physician life coach. But she had a nagging feeling that something was not quite right.

Growing up, Dr. Weisman’s grandmother participated in a quilting circle at her local church. Every week, women in the community would come together, and the group would make a quilt from scratch. Age and ability did not matter: if someone wanted to be in the group, they were in the group. There was Betty, the snack-bringing old sage who refused to quilt, but also refused to quit. And that was okay. There was a 90-year-old, nearly blind lady who had her own little corner of the quilt, and she just got on with her patterns as best she could, slow and steady. And that was okay, too. The group was a democracy, learning from and sharing with one another, and one of Dr. Weisman’s favorite life memories.

It’s fascinating to think that even in the niche world of physician life coaches, there is a hierarchy, an unspoken “you can’t sit with us” mentality, but Dr. Weisman says she felt it and felt excluded by it. Despite her ostensible success and her open, honest nature, she still felt like she was on the outside looking in, and she didn’t like it. She wanted to create an environment where everyone could feel welcome: cool kids and science nerds, and art geeks alike. She wanted to recreate the sense of belonging and community that her grandmother had recounted with such fondness. So, she reached out to six coaches that she knew. Although all women, these were six very different people in very different places, who, apart from the fact that they were coaches, had very little in common. And so, the Coaching Circle was born.

It was immediately clear to the first few in the Coaching Circle that what they had was very special. Each of them recalls that it was unlike anything they had encountered in their various coaching endeavors up to that point. It was making a huge difference to their coaching practice to teach and be guided by other coaches in an open, supportive, and non-judgmental space. Each month, they would meet, and the metaphorical quilt would grow and become more elaborate and decorated as people invited their friends and colleagues, who each brought with them their own wealth of knowledge and experience, and their own questions and ideas.

By November 2019, the group had expanded from just doctors to people from all facets of the healthcare system: dentists, nurses, and lawyers, being just a few examples. Now, men were joining too. Both of these expansions were met with some initial apprehension, but Dr. Weisman found herself revisiting the original purpose and aims of the group: a safe space where all are welcome and included. Through all of this change and growth, it was important to Dr. Weisman that this mantra remained at the center of the group’s purpose.

The Alliance was growing at a steady pace, but it was in 2020 that the full potential and power of the PCA came to light. There is no need here to recount the worldwide events that took place as 2020 began, which would impact every minute detail and microscopic element of life as we knew it to be. What quickly became apparent to Dr. Weisman and the founding members of the Physician Coaching Alliance, though, was that they were uniquely positioned, by virtue of their now-established community, to help and support those who were some of the most affected by the pandemic: the people working in healthcare, and the people who were helping the people working in healthcare.

They developed a community calendar, with multiple events every week, where members could link up virtually to talk things out, share advice, and belong somewhere that other people understood the gravity of what they were going through.

They could tackle their fear and uncertainty head-on and rely on each other with their combined years of training and experience, and a broad spectrum of education, specialties, and coaching styles. In the swirling, unpredictable tornado of Covid-19, the PCA was a hatch-battened bunker for its members. At a time of complete chaos, they showed what true collaboration could look like.

Since then, the PCA has continued to grow and evolve into something unparalleled in the field. They’ve developed a leadership team. There’s a very active Slack Group where they build each other up and celebrate each other’s wins.

Where once they had a monthly meeting, now they meet four times a month, with extra bonuses always being added to the agenda: Coaching 101 lessons for those who are thinking about becoming a coach or just starting out, Podcasting workshops, Business and Leadership mentoring, and group retreats. Their membership is now 60-strong and growing every day.

The core values of the PCA? Community over Competition. Transparency. Vulnerability. Open Coach Approach. Growth Mindset. Transformation. They want to fundamentally change the culture of a broken healthcare system and herald in a new approach: one that champions the well-being of its healthcare professionals.

For more information, head to http://www.physicianoutlook.com