Recalibrate FAQs

2025 RECALIBRATE: Live and Online Programs

This program combines individual coaching and 24 hours of masterclass in a community of like-minded doctors. This is professional development designed for your individual needs. In particular building human factor skills like communication, leadership, emotional intelligence and compassion. Growing skills and knowledge that can prevent burnout and help you enjoy a long term medical career.

Who is the ideal candidate?

Doctors at any stage of their career, from any specialty, who work in Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada and elsewhere, who are keen to:

• Evolve and grow their interpersonal skills, especially skills in communication and interpersonal relationship
• Grow their self awareness, the foundation of excellent leadership and self care
• Bring their humanity to work, sharing personal experiences of working in medicine
• Understand the impact of mindfulness, compassion, and self-awareness in the work they do, for self and for others.

This program is designed to develop and challenge doctors. It is NOT therapy or counselling. The Recalibrate program will help build your skills to enable you to be an extraordinary, humanitarian doctor. Doctors from nearly every college/ craft have used our programs to develop their skills and understanding of medicine.

What is the Program Structure?

1.  6 x 1 hour of individual coaching with Sharee that is action-oriented and future-focused. You determine the content: your goals, your development with her.
2. 24 hours of workshop, building a community of practice, doctors learning and testing new skills together in a safe environment. (In person 4 x full day masterclasses; Online 6 x 4 hour masterclasses)

You will have the opportunity to personally grow your self-care capacity, self-awareness, mindfulness, empathy, compassion, and leadership skills. You will learn about your own unconscious bias, emotional intelligence, and how to prevent burnout. We will practice and challenge these skills together in masterclasses, and in coaching. You will be encouraged to read and practice on your own and will be asked to keep a journal as a means of reflection.

Teaching will call on the latest science, case studies, guided practices, and small group conversations.

How will this help me in my job?

As you build the skills of mindfulness, compassion, and awareness, you are likely to become less stressed, less overwhelmed and less distracted. As you increase your mindful presence, you will become more focused, engaged, and make better decisions. This increases efficiency, and productivity as well as making you more available to creative ideas and insights. You will also increase your capacity to connect with other people and respond in wiser ways to everyday events, as well as significant challenges, upsets, and difficult relationships.

You will have the opportunity to enhance your practice rather than “just surviving” despite the system. You will have the opportunity to build skills and feel supported so that you can deliver the best possible care to your patients and be well yourself.

What will I receive and be able to do once I complete the program?

You will develop your own goals for the program that you will continue to develop and review in your individual coaching with Sharee throughout the program.

You will spend time and effort reflecting and reviewing how mindfulness, unconscious bias, empathy, compassion, and self-awareness impacts on health – your own and that of those you interact with, including your patients.

You will have the opportunity to challenge and test your experiences in a safe environment, learning from each other and the faculty.

You will be able to develop your practice with wholeheartedness and be an extraordinary doctor by your own design, not simply by default, in a big healthcare system. Be more than a survivor of medicine, bring your authentic self to work, and let that sustain you. Doctors completing our Signature Recalibrate Program say they are “thriving” because of the skills they have learned during their immersion. They often say their family notices they are different and they say they feel well and are enjoying their work again. Imagine having the joy back in your practice!! Who doesn’t want to enjoy work, you spend so many hours of your life there.

Can compassion be learnt? Why would I want to be more compassionate?

Compassion can be learnt and has significant benefits for patients’ health outcomes and for health care professionals’ health too. Stephen Trzeciak is an Intensive Care Doctor at Cooper University Health Care in the USA.  You can listen to his podcast, read his ideas or watch his Ted talk for a summary of some of the research showing that caregiver compassion has a strong evidence base, that the science of compassion is part of the art of medicine.

What is the investment?

Allow 6 hours for coaching, 24 hours for masterclasses. Sharee will work with you on Zoom for your coaching sessions. And up to 20 hours during the life of the program for pre and post work (private reflection, reading, writing and so on. There are no assessments, your learning is self directed.

6 x 1-hour Individual Coaching
6 x 4-hour Masterclasses online [or live, in person 4 x 6 hours]

Early Bird | $7,500 + GST  ($8,250) 
Full Fee| $8,150 + GST  ($8,965)

*Early bird rate ends 1 November 2024

Indicative: For online programs, invest 8 hours every month for 6 months.

Per Month:

Can I receive CPD points for this program?

Yes as self-directed learning and in line with your personal learning plan. Most colleges accept this course as reflective learning for professional development. Recalibrate has additional CPD approval with the following colleges:

RANZCOG

Approved for 2024 annual CPD cycle
30 hours (24 hrs Educational Activities + 6 hrs Coaching /Performance Review)

ACEM

Approved for CPD 2024
1 Jan – 31 Dec 2024
30 hours (Educational Activity – Course)

CPD Home AMA

Approved for CPD 2024
1 Jan – 31 Dec 2024
30 hours (Educational Activity – Course)

ACCRM

Approved for CPD 2024
30 hours (Educational Activity)

Is the program tax deductible?

Please check with your accountant or financial advisers. In most circumstances that we are aware of, you can claim the program as professional development (CME) and any personal costs are tax-deductible. (This is general advice, we are not qualified to give you financial advice and do not want to!)

Can my employer sponsor my participation in the program?

Yes, you can pay for yourself as described above or your employer can pay for your registration in the program via CME or otherwise because they see the high value of this investment. Often employers offer training like this as a means of supporting their staff and/ or as part of professional development and learning programs. You can request that we invoice your employer at the time of your application phone call with Sharee. Your place is not secured in the program until payment is received.

Why do I have to pay the full fees of the program at the beginning? 

Our signature Recalibrate Program is exactly that – completely absorbed with the care of doctors.  We have found that this is a very powerful way for people to commit to their own deep learning. Immersive learning needs a high level of commitment and trust that continues and deepens over time, creating a very safe environment for people to experiment with ideas and emotions. This is one way we invite doctors to fully commit to the learning and development that they have decided they are ready for.

If after completing the whole program you are not satisfied that the program has delivered what we promise – development of your human skills – emotional regulation, communication, compassion and so on we will reimburse you 50% of your fees.

Our signature Recalibrate Program is not for everyone.  You must be ready and willing to making a serious commitment to your own personal development in the service of better care of yourself and your patients.

I’m interested in developing my leadership skills, will this program help?

Yes. Compassionate leaders recognise the skills such as self-awareness, authenticity and compassion are essential – not just optional – for the success of individuals, organisations and entire industries.

The current way of work isn’t satisfactory for many people. There are unprecedented levels of stress, exhaustion, overwhelm and burnout across medicine. This creates a work culture of people running on autopilot, unfocused and disengaged. Stress is costing Australian businesses over $17 billion a year (Medibank Private 2008) and absenteeism is estimated to cost $6.4 billion a year. Compassionate leadership is a great way to bring out the best in people and create a workplace that is purposeful, innovative, successful and kind. You will learn much more about this and how to apply it in our Signature Recalibrate Program.

Is the Recalibrate Program evidence based?

Yes, this program draws upon decades of scientific research in the realms of psychology, medicine, and neuroscience, as well as well-regarded and accepted theories of emotional, relational, and collective intelligence. The principles of mindfulness and compassion have been scientifically examined at places like the University of Massachusetts Medical School https://www.umassmed.edu/, the University of Wisconsin’s Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience http://uwmlarsonlab.org/, and Stanford University’s School of Medicine http://med.stanford.edu/.

The results of our first seven years of Recalibrate will be widely shared in 2024. We are very interested to measure and understand how the program affects doctor experience and skills. We will ask you to complete some pre and post inventories as part of the program.

I’m new to these ideas, will I still benefit?

Everyone can benefit from reflection and understanding themselves better. This program is a combination of individual and small group work so that everyone’s needs can be met. Sharee, Liz, and Andrew bring a depth and breadth of experience in leadership, medicine, psychology, teaching and mindfulness to the program. One of the most obvious benefits is learning to calm our minds and balance our nervous systems so that we can shift away from running on adrenaline, to more sustainable modes of operating. Many doctors say that they like their work but would cope better with more support.

Recalibrate is using the combination of individual coaching and small groups of like-minded doctors who are ready to stretch and grow as an effective way of delivering support, to enhance the experience and well being of the doctor.  100% of the doctors who have completed or are currently in the program say they are benefiting from the program and that they feel supported by the combination of coaching and peer group work.

What if my work culture doesn’t support this kind of practice?

We believe that mindfulness, compassion and greater self awareness helps shift an organisation from a short-term focus and crisis driven mode, to a longer-term, more compassionate way of operating. Most organisations that have transitioned towards this way of working have done so, one person, one team and one choice at a time. This program invites you to be the leader the world needs in your own life, in your organisation and for your patients. It asks you to get in touch with your capacity to make a difference in your own life and your organisation’s culture. To activate your own agency for your goals by working on your internal and your external scaffolds. Some doctors come to Recalibrate purely for their own needs and others come with visionary goals – both will be fostered and developed for action.

Many doctors have utilised CME funds to attend Recalibrate. This is a way for the employer organisation to support the doctor participant’s skill development. The most powerful way to create change is when the individuals and the organisation are working toward the same change. You can decide to participate in the program for your own benefit or for the impact it might have in your organisation. Both are valid reasons. Remember we aim to improve doctor wellbeing, to reduce doctor burnout and to improve patient health outcomes.

Sometimes individuals lead organisations to change, “be the change you want to see in the world” (Gandhi). Perhaps more often than an organisation leads an individual to change…..

What happens after I finish the Recalibrate Program? Joining the Recalibrate Alumni

The Recalibrate Alumni is a growing community of practice.  Doctors who have completed, Graduated Recalibrate have access to regular meditation huddles, workshops and retreats, dinners, as well as discounted priority access to coaching.

They are connected to each other and feel supported knowing that there are other doctors who are interested to grow their skills in understanding people, in leadership, emotions, compassion, and a long-term career in medicine. All of this adds to their sense of wellbeing and belonging. As our community grows this community is also developing. Once you have completed Recalibrate you will be invited to join the Alumni community.

More Questions?

We’d love to hear from you. If you have any more questions, feel free to email Sharee via the button below.