Ex-doctor massages away stress, refreshes self-image

Each month "Transitions" profiles an individual who has made significant changes in his or her work life and highlights the techniques used to make the changes.

Linda Loney, 56

Career transition: From pediatrician and hospital administrator to massage therapist.

What she used to do: Doctor, chief of pediatrics, and associate medical director, Massachusetts Hospital School.

What she does now: As licensed certified massage therapist, she runs her own therapeutic and relaxation massage therapy practice.

Making the switch: The hardest things about leaving medicine were the change of self-image and the fear of disappointing her family.

Changing her view of herself was part of the difficulty of making the decision, she said. ''I became a physician not only because I wanted to help people but because I wanted to make my parents proud of me,'' Loney said. ''I wanted to thank them for everything they so selflessly gave me growing up.''

But Loney's story made clear she needed to make a change in her life.

That story begins on a farm in Kansas in the 1950s, where she was the youngest of seven children growing up in a family of limited means. Loney was a good student and made it to the University of Kansas, where she graduated in 1971 as a pre-med with a degree in microbiology. After working for a year in the biochemistry lab at Washington University in St. Louis, she enrolled in the medical school there and earned her MD in pediatrics in 1976.

Loney did her residency at St. Louis Children's Hospital. She also opened a private practice in 1982, but two years later moved with her husband — whom she met in medical school — and her two children to New Hampshire.

Loney worked part time for the state, but within a year the family relocated to the Boston area, where Loney secured a position with the Massachusetts Hospital School, a state-run residential school and hospital for children and adults with disabilities. Her focus was on treating children with incurable diseases. Eventually she was named chief of pediatrics and associate medical director.

But underneath, something did not feel right. ''After my children were born in the early mid-80s I began to see how much medicine consumed my life,'' she said. With the addition of administrative duties, she began to feel ''burned out.''

''But it took time to think things through,'' said Loney. ''For so long, medicine defined who I was.''

She wasn't sure what she wanted to do, but one thing was clear: The stress of raising a young family along with the responsibility of caring for patients became too much for her to bear.

Loney was seeing a massage therapist at that time, and during one visit, she spotted a stack of business cards for a career counselor. She took a card, called the counselor, and wound up working with her for a short period of time.

''The coach was very helpful to bounce ideas off,'' said Loney, ''and she validated the feeling that I needed a change. She also helped me start to visualize the new me.'' Loney knew she still wanted to be in a position to help people feel better, and the idea of a massage therapy practice as a vehicle began to take shape.

''I'd had the personal experience of massage. I knew I could do something that would benefit people, that I could be more independent and work as much or as little as I wanted, and that it would not take years of additional training to learn,'' she said. ''It would also keep me in the broader healthcare field.''

Once Loney decided her direction, she moved quickly to the next steps. She began to scale down her pediatric practice and left it for good in September 2002, starting as a student the same month at the Massachusetts Institute of Therapeutic Massage in Burlington. The 11-month program included spending three days a week in class and two days in clinical training. It also included an ''externship'' at a chiropractor's office in Newton, the same office where she now sees patients 2 days a week.

In August 2003, Loney was awarded her diploma and her certification and joined the American Massage Therapy Association.

By September she was in practice for herself, renting space from another therapist.

While she practices relaxation massage, Loney draws on her previous medical experience to offer therapeutic massage for patients with chronic physical disabilities.

Her practice is thriving, she said. She performs about 25 massages per week, typically in hourlong sessions.

Loney also has increasing interest in ''energy work'' such as Reiki, a Japanese healing approach that ''helps move energy within the body.'' She often ends sessions with this soothing technique.

Now, two years into her new career, Loney feels great about her choice.

''I'm much happier. I'm not at a desk anymore, and I feel energized,'' she said. ''I still get the benefit of helping people, but it is not so stressful.''

Her medical knowledge has also proven useful. ''I know what massage can and can't help,'' she said, ''and all the time I am thinking about 'Now this muscle goes here, and...'''

Loney's background did not go unnoticed at the institute, either, where she now teaches anatomy, physiology, and pathology.

When questioned about the move from western medicine to an alternative healthcare practice, Loney says she is aware that massage, chiropractic, acupuncture, and related practices ''do not get the credence in the mainstream medical community.'' But she prefers to think of them as ''complementary'' rather than alternative treatments and staunchly defends their role in the healing process.

As to income, Loney now makes roughly half of the $90,000 a year she was earning as physician. But she has no regrets.

''Let's face it — physicians are in a different social strata,'' she said. ''But my practice has now really picked up. All the things I was worried about I have overcome — money, self-image, building a clientele. I've really been very fortunate.''

Do you have a career transition story you would be willing to share? If so, please let us know at transitions@bostonworks.com. Be sure to include your name, phone number, and e-mail address along with a brief description of your career change.