Is there a simple inverse relationship between resilience and burnout? Intuitively, one would think so, but with physicians, it’s never that simple. A recent paper in JAMA Open reveals some startlng findings.
In Part 2, I present the second part of my story: one of physician burnout recovery – how I emerged from the wreckage and rebuilt my life. I sincerely hope that it provides hope for others who are struggling.
If you’ve not heard of Corrigan’s Secret Door, you’re in for a treat. Based on a legendary Irish physician, the Secret Door denotes a metaphorical escape route for busy physicians from their hectic clinics.
My career and life crashed to a halt after 25 years in clinical medicine. I was at one point “suicidal with planning and intent”. Medical knowledge in the hands of a suicidal physician can be deadly. As an affluent, respected physician, confident in my position, well-liked and admired by society, yet suffering inside, why did I not seek help?
Physicians are sick, and it’s getting worse. Yet too few doctors seek help or reach out when we are struggling. Record numbers of us are burning out, becoming mentally ill or addicted, retiring early, and leaving medicine.
In this article, Part 2, I concede that there are some excellent principles differentiating ineffective from effective physician resilience programs. We hope that colleagues and medical leaders designing such programs will find the guidance useful, and further grasp the nettle of addressing the root causes of physician burnout.
ED Doctor’s Burnout Story
ED Doctor’s Burnout Story
This article explores how we can solve physician burnout by changing the toxic healthcare system while also providing physicians with tools to help them recognize and treat burnout and other mental health challenges.
Here we have curated a series of validated questionnaires that will at least assist you in screening the commonest psychological problems in doctors, including physician burnout tests, depression tests, and scales for self-compassion and moral injury.
UK doctor burnout has been impacted by the pandemic, too. This article explores the UK situation with particular reference to doctors working in the UK’s National Health Service (NHS).
Long before the COVID pandemic, doctors across the world were suffering from ‘a pandemic of physician burnout’. In this article, we explore global physician burnout statistics and root causes from around the world.
This article discusses physician mental health stigma and explores ways to overcome this unnecessary barrier to getting help.
Burnout in Chinese Doctors is higher than in the West. Physicians Anonymous provides anonymity and safety for doctors to tackle burnout.
Emerging evidence supports an increasingly robust link between physician burnout and medical error. This article explores the evidence between physician burnout and medical error, and the impact on patients.
In this article, we illustrate how physician burnout has been worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic, against a background of already high levels of physician distress.
The idea of physicians boosting their own resilience seems reasonable – at least as this relates to the personal resilience required for being a doctor. Here we present a number of physician resilience programs designed by doctors
The idea of physicians boosting their own resilience seems reasonable – at least as this relates to the personal resilience required for being a doctor. Here we summarize the evidence base of interventions for physician resilience
If there’s one good thing about a pandemic, it’s increased public awareness of their healthcare workers as human beings under stress. In this article, we have pulled together a number of resources for physician resilience developed by professional organizations for the interested physician reader and physician leader.
Let’s talk about physician wellbeing in the COVID era. Burnout and depression are still serious problems among physicians, especially amid COVID-19. The 2021 Medscape National Physician Burnout and Suicide Report makes for disturbing reading. More than 12,000 doctors across 29 specialties responded to the anonymous survey which ran from August to December 2020.
