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Kristiyana Kaneva: Take time to look back, no less frequently than once in a decade.

photo taken from Kristiyana Kaneva/LinkedIn

Aug 27, 2023, 18:52

Kristiyana Kaneva: Take time to look back, no less frequently than once in a decade.

Quoting Kristiyana Kaneva, Senior Medical Director of Clinical Development and Pediatric Oncology at Tempus Labs, on LinkedIn:

“I have been doing a lot of self reflection lately. I became a physician a decade ago when I graduated from medical school in 2013.

The last decade has been filled with constant running, literally and figuratively. I moved from Chicago > Boston > LA > Chicago. Residency > marriage > fellowship & MS > second fellowship > job & MBA. Infertility >>>> kid 1 >> kid 2.

Taking care of terminally and acutely ill children 80+ hour weeks witnessing the most raw vulnerability of families living their worst nightmare and balancing hope with the limitations of science and medicine > working in biotech on developing diagnostic tests to aid novel biomarker and drug discovery for adults and kids battling cancer with some of the most talented people I’ve met. Academic laboratory, translational and clinical research > global industry research.

It’s been a constant hustle. And the decade before that was Bulgaria > US and Chicago > Bloomington > Chicago. Learn English > adapt to a new culture > college > medical school & research > choose a speacilty. Poverty > making ends meet.

I look back and I haven’t paused for a second.

A colleague once told me that there is no such a thing as work life balance. It’s all life. It’s all chaos and it’s all great at the same time. It all takes from the same pool of limited years, months, days, hours.

So perhaps we need to turn this concept of work life balance on its head. And focus on living our work life and our personal life intentionally. With kidness and compassion to ourselves and those around us. And take time to look back, no less frequently than once in a decade.

**all puns are intended**”

Kristiyana Kaneva: Take time to look back, no less frequently than once in a decade.