'Studies are part of life, not the only part': Here’s why Dr. Priti Kashyap's emotional note on medical burnout is going viral again

Six years have passed since pediatric surgeon Dr. Priti Kashyap poured her heart into a Facebook post that, once again, is rippling through the medical world. The post is popping up on timelines again this week, with doctors and students sharing and resharing it. Some are even sharing the post with the somber message that Dr. Kashyap herself is no longer with us. However, it’s important to note that no official announcement has been made regarding that news. We can’t confirm with certainty what’s happened since she first wrote these words, but the impact she left behind is very real.When Dr. Kashyap first hit “post” back in 2020, she didn’t hold anything back. As Dr. Dhruv Chauhan has shared on social media, she wrote plainly about what so many in medicine quietly endure: the sleepless nights, the skipped meals, the aches you chalk up to “normal,” all in the name of the next exam or saving just one more patient. But she went further than most. After 14 years clawing her way up to an MCh in surgery, becoming the kind of doctor children trust, a mother, and a wife, she wrote a line that stops you: “I have end-stage renal disease.”In that moment, she didn’t want sympathy or applause. She just wanted to crack open the myth that being a brilliant doctor means destroying yourself along the way. When you read her words, you can feel the years of pushing through sickness: swallowing painkillers, working through fevers, not letting herself stop for anything as simple as a real meal or a solid eight hours of sleep. It’s gut-wrenching because the struggle rings so true for so many people in white coats.ID@undefined Caption not available.ID@undefined Caption not available.And yet, Dr. Kashyap didn’t sound angry. She didn’t point fingers. No one is to blame, not her family, not her mentors, not even herself, really. Instead, the tone is almost gentle; she’s talking to the next wave of doctors, the ones who are about to start running before they can walk. Don’t do what I did, she’s saying. Don’t put life on pause for so long you forget how to press play.“Studies are part of life, not the only part,” she wrote, urging students to savor time with their families, to actually see their friends, to stop postponing joy until some magical “after” that might never come. The ripple effect of her message is obvious, as people are now waking up to the fact that medicine’s oldest, unspoken rule (that you have to work yourself to the bone just to prove you care) isn’t just outdated, it’s dangerous.Doctors like Dr. Dhruv Chauhan are rehashing her six-year-old note today, reminding everyone grinding their way through med school and long shifts, as no degree, no honor, is worth hollowing yourself out. And that message is taking off as the question of burnout in Indian hospitals keeps gaining steam.And let's be honest: it’s not just about long shifts or crowded wards (though those are certainly problems). It’s a culture, really, one that celebrates skipping meals, being proud of not sleeping, and dismissing your own health as a necessary sacrifice. For years, residents have complained about everything from harassment to exhaustion. Study after study lays it out: too many doctors are on the edge, fighting off depression, anxiety, and chronic fatigue.As for Dr. Kashyap’s post, it takes the dry numbers and turns them into lived experience. She writes about what it feels like to be so focused on “the next step” that you don’t even notice how much you’re losing, sometimes for good.Interestingly, Dr. Kashyap’s words don’t just belong to medicine, either. They echo wherever ambition takes over: students postponing sleep and food until after one last entrance test, workers holding off on vacations until a promotion comes through, parents ignoring their own health because kids come first. Everyone thinks “real life” is just waiting a little further down the road.Dr. Kashyap’s post discards that belief. It confronts the reality that none of us gets a guarantee. If you burn out your body chasing success, what kind of reward is that supposed to be? Not once does she say “Don’t work hard.” She’s just saying exhaustion isn’t the same as excellence. There’s a chasm between discipline and self-destruction.This shift is happening everywhere. More and more young doctors are open about needing therapy, about demanding sane work hours, about not being ashamed to admit they’re tired or even scared. Teachers and administrators are hearing them out (finally) and, slowly, the profession is changing course.As for her fate, of course, questions remain about reports of Dr. Kashyap’s death. No official confirmation has arrived yet. But her words have outlived the moment because they force us all to ask: At what point does ambition cross the line into self-neglect?She says degrees, careers, all those late nights in the library — they matter. But so do birthdays. Conversations. Unhurried meals. Laughing with friends. Hearing your own body say, “Enough,” and actually listening.But what’s the good of reaching your goals if you have nothing left to give, or no one to celebrate with?Maybe that’s why, six years on, people are still discovering her post, still passing it along, still wrestling with the hard truth it delivers. In a few paragraphs, Dr. Kashyap managed to ignite a conversation that medicine desperately needs: What are we willing to give up for success and at what cost?