Physician Stéphanie Melanson first realized the need for coaching skills in her family practice, where she was seeing growing numbers of professional women who were crying out for help as they tried to juggle motherhood, careers and the daily stresses of life.
Even before she had her coaching credentials, Stéphanie used what she had gleaned from books and online to help her patients learn how to focus on their own needs and prioritize demands on their time for maximum effectiveness.
Personally energized by the rewards of coaching, she went on to earn her coaching credentials.
Fluently bilingual
And, today, I’m delighted to announce that Stéphanie has joined the Vision Coaching roster, a fluently bilingual coach who is bringing her experience, compassion, skill and commitment to our clients, all the while still juggling her duties as a physician and mother to three young children.
While she is open to all those who are in need of coaching, she is particularly attuned to the needs of her fellow physicians – people who have traditionally struggled to find a healthy work-life balance. These days, the demands and stresses of the COVID pandemic have only added to the strain.
“I want to help out my colleagues,” Stéphanie says. “Doctors these days face a lot of distress and it’s not always addressed … I think that the more supported doctors are, the better they will perform their duties and their well-being is going to be affected positively as well. That was mostly the reason why I got into coaching – and to help professional moms. At some point, we all need permission to do things for ourselves, and society is not really conducive to that.”
Stéphanie is a family physician and sports medicine specialist. She grew up in Grande-Digue, a coastal community near Moncton, N.B., attended the University of Moncton after high school and then studied medicine at the University of Sherbrooke in Quebec. More recently, she received her certification in personal and business coaching from the Canada Coach Academy and is currently working towards her certification with the International Coaching Federation.
Faced difficulties herself
She faced difficulties herself trying to find the time to get her coaching certification, given the extraordinary demands of her medical practice and her own busy family life.
But she is part of a growing number of health care professionals who are discovering leadership coaching can help them navigate tricky terrain they find themselves confronting after being handed management responsibilities.
“That’s not something you learn in medical school,” Stéphanie notes. “So when I studied coaching, I found it very interesting – it was very enlightening. It did improve my professional life quite a bit. And also seeing other styles of coaching really did help me kind of zone in on what worked for me and what were my key assets.”
Stéphanie said she embarked on a medical career 20 years ago because of her interest in helping others and her desire to contribute to her community. Becoming a leadership coach builds on those original goals of contributing and helping.
She also feels a great sense of reward in working with athletes in her sports medicine practice, which has also propelled her into leadership roles on medical teams at local, national and international events – including as chief medical officer at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Moncton in 2015.
Stéphanie’s areas of expertise include: physician coaching, health-care coaching, executive coaching, leadership development, career development, clinical and administrative workflow, burnout and work-life balance.
To learn more about Stéphanie, visit Vision Coaching on the web.