The Calling-Cost Paradox: When Identity-Driven Motivation Becomes a Risk in Medical Training

Abstract

Physicians are often fueled by more than external rewards or professional mastery; many experience a deeply internalised sense that being a doctor is central to who they are. Self-determination theory (SDT) labels this identity-level drive ‘integrated regulation’—a form of autonomous motivation typically viewed as protective and performance-enhancing. This viewpoint introduces the Calling-Cost Paradox: the proposition that the very physicians and trainees who appear most autonomously motivated may be uniquely vulnerable to burnout when learning and practice environments lack clear boundaries, reciprocal support, or psychologically need-nurturing cultures. Drawing on empirical work in motivational profiling, need-sacrifice and work–family conflict, as well as the author's dual perspective as an SDT scholar and practicing family physician, this article traces how integrated motivation can blur boundaries, amplify perfectionistic norms and lead high performers to self-sacrificial overextension. It argues that simply moving learners along the SDT continuum is insufficient. Medical programmes must also implement structural safeguards, such as duty-hour limits, reflective mentoring, team-based scheduling and boundary-setting norms, to ‘protect the purposeful.’ By naming and unpacking the Calling-Cost Paradox, this paper invites further research and urges educators to recognise that high engagement does not necessarily equate to low risk.