If there is anything positive to come from the pandemic, perhaps it will be the heightened realization of the importance of peer support. Physician peer support programs with an emphasis on preventing burnout and growing community have are being piloted and implemented in different ways and organizations around the country.
While we have much in common as MDs, there are also specialty-specific challenges. In fact, burnout rates seem to vary by specialty. Whether this is due to the challenges of these clinical areas or the types of doctors attracted to them is another discussion.
In this article, we explore a number of successful peer support programs to support our fellow physicians.
The key is that they are run by and for doctors. These may be formal or informal programs of 1:1 or group physician-only support based on equality and mutual understanding of what it’s like to be a doctor.
Here a colleague inquires how a peer is doing after an adverse event, can sometimes be helpful but can also be insufficient or occasionally even counterproductive.
Oftentimes colleagues feel helpless and unsure of what to say in these situations. They may try to minimize the emotions of their peers with comments such as, “You really shouldn’t feel that way,” or, “Why are you so upset? This is part of our job.”
88% of doctors would potentially seek support from a physician colleague if needed, whereas only 48% who would access mental health professional support.
Beyond supporting wellbeing, peer support is closely associated with improved resilience, the idea of ‘coping, adapting or thriving from adverse or challenging events.
The benefits of good wellbeing extend beyond the individual: the wellbeing of doctors is directly linked to the quality of patient care, improved patient satisfaction, improved treatment, and even lower rates of hospital-acquired infections. Moreover, there is evidence that improving staff wellbeing has measurable financial advantages – CEOs, are you listening?
As a registered not-for-profit, Physicians Anonymous quietly but fiercely supports our fellow physicians behind the scenes. In addition to advocacy, coaching, and the Burnout Vaccine, we provide free anonymous coaching-based peer-support group meetings in confidential virtual spaces with other health care practitioners who understand their pain but do not need to know their name.
“No name, no shame.”
Regular peer-support group engagement reduces physician isolation, builds relationships, models positive coping behaviors, and may create cohesive groups that can mature over time and with shared challenges. A sense of camaraderie and mutual support grows.
We are intent on developing self-sustaining physician communities which grow at the speed of trust across the US and the world.
Our attendee testimonials are striking:
“Physicians Anonymous [groups] were the missing link I didn’t even know I was missing”.
And…
...I did want to also let you know the importance of your work. This ... (amongst other things) literally saved my life AND allowed me to avoid inpatient admission." - Anonymous Physician
It is imperative that health care institutions devote resources to programs that support physician well-being and resilience. Doing so after adverse and other emotionally stressful events, such as the death of a colleague or caring for victims of a mass trauma, is crucial as clinicians are often at their most vulnerable during such times.
To this end, the Center for Professionalism and Peer Support at Brigham and Women’s Hospital redesigned their peer support program in 2009 to provide one-on-one peer support. The peer support program was one of the first of its kind; over 25 national and international programs have been modeled off of it.
Important components for the peer support conversation included: outreach call, invitation/opening, listening, reflecting, reframing, sense-making, coping, closing, and resources/referrals. The authors argue that creating a peer support program is one way forward, away from a culture of invulnerability, isolation, and shame and toward a culture that truly values a sense of shared organizational responsibility for clinician well-being and patient safety.
The more recent “Scholars of Wellness” program at Northwestern Medicine has developed 10 specialty-specific peer-support solutions to physician burnout.
Since launching in February 2020, the peer-support program has reached out to 160 physicians. These physicians have had peer support interactions through email, Zoom, a phone call or in person. System wide expansion of the program began September 2021 and over 59 peer support coaches have been trained across the institution with more than 3,000 physicians across all specialties in 10 hospitals using the well-being intervention.
We have presented a number of physician-developed peer-support programs across 10 different specialties in a large US healthcare system. What are your experiences?
If you would like to join a peer-support group of physicians in a safe and confidential space, check out our Anonymous Meetings here. Our groups grow organically, and we are always looking for co-facilitators.
Also, if you feel moved to support us, please reach out via the Contact Us and mention becoming a facilitator.
We would love to hear about success stories, and learnings from failure, too!
