Introducing Florescence; A Sister circle for women in medicine
““Women physicians are more likely to engage in patient-centred care, to mentor colleagues, and to carry emotional weight within clinical teams — yet they are also more likely to leave medicine due to burnout and lack of support”
Every day, I see women in medicine doing extraordinary things - holding space for others, carrying unspoken pressures, responding with care even when running on empty.
They are responsible not just for clinical decisions, but for the emotional labour that surrounds them. Managing complexity with compassion, staying steady through others’ storms, calming the anxious, absorbing grief and navigating the invisible weight of expectation. Often with little space to reflect or recover.
But this capacity to hold so much comes at a cost.
Burnout in medicine is real — and it’s rising. But it’s not evenly distributed. The data tells us what many women already feel deep in their bones.
Women in medicine experience burnout more often and more deeply than their male colleagues. A 2023 report from the American Medical Association showed that 54.5% of female physicians reported at least one symptom of burnout, compared to 42% of men.
The rates are even higher for women with caregiving responsibilities, and those in primary care, emergency medicine, and rural roles (AMA, 2023).
The reasons are complex — but they’re not surprising:
➤ Emotional Labour
Women doctors spend more time per patient, provide more psychosocial care, and often feel a greater sense of moral obligation to “get it right.” They are more likely to receive emotionally complex cases and more likely to carry the emotional aftermath (JAMA Internal Medicine, 2021).
➤ Invisible Load
In most workplaces, women are the unspoken glue: mentoring younger staff, managing team dynamics, handling patient emotions, smoothing systemic cracks. This labour is real, essential and often unacknowledged.
➤ Microaggressions and Bias
The Lancet Women in Medicine series (2023) details how women doctors still face frequent interruptions, undermining of authority, and structural inequity, all while being held to higher expectations of communication, empathy, and availability. These daily occurences accumulate. They erode our sense of safety and belonging in the very systems we serve.
➤ Double Shift
Many women doctors also carry primary responsibility for home life and caring for children, aging parents and the associated physical and emotional labour. So the workday rarely ends. The emotional bandwidth needed to keep functioning becomes enormous, and exhaustion becomes a way of being.
This is not personal failure.
This is the pressure of an entire system on your shoulders.
“Physicians, especially women, benefit from structured spaces of reflection, peer support, and emotional processing. These aren’t luxuries - they’re protective against burnout and moral distress.”
A Different Way: Gathering in Circle
Throughout history, women have gathered in circles.
Not to fix or compare, but to share.
To be seen. To be heard. To restore what the world drains away.
These gatherings are not new. They are ancient, and they are effective. From moon lodges to grandmother circles, women have long known that wisdom is strengthened in community and that healing doesn’t always come from doing more, but from being held.
Modern research supports this, too. Facilitated peer groups and reflective storytelling have been shown to reduce emotional fatigue, enhance empathy, and reconnect physicians to purpose (Medical Teacher, 2020; Academic Medicine, 2018).
What is Florescence?
Florescence means blooming — and this circle is your invitation to do just that.
Gently. In your own time. In good company.
It’s not another webinar or workshop.
It’s a sacred pause.
A space to reflect, breathe, and return to yourself, not just as a clinician with a label and persona, but as the complete, complex beautiful human being you are.
In Each Gathering, You’ll Find:
Gentle mindfulness and breath-based practices
Space to speak openly, to share your story without judgment, expectation or advice
Restorative rituals and creative reflection
Connection with women who understand the path you're walking
All held in a beautiful setting, with nature on our doorstep, by the tranquil River Wharfe.
Fire, candlelight, good food and a sense of ease and space to just be.
All expertly and compassionately facilitated by Dr Alison Smith
Whether you're stretched thin, quietly curious, or longing for a moment of stillness — come.
You are welcome here, just as you are.
This is Florescence:
A space for women in medicine to breathe, bloom, and belong.
