“We lost him”. The surgical resident whispered it under his breath, stepping away from the trauma bay. The blood on his gloves and scrubs, a dull reddish brown under fluorescent lights, told the story of a 12-hour shift spent fighting battles he often lost.
We all talk about the importance of letting go, but they are very few of us that can actually do it well. Perhaps being human makes it so hard.
Yet it is when we let go that things begin to move and what we’ve been hoping and wishing for comes in alignment.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned on my Hero’s Journey is the importance of learning to accept ourselves (our full selves).
There has never been a more urgent need to combat, or ideally prevent, physician burnout, mental illness, and suicide. In this article, we explore a number of peer support programs and summarize the key elements required to develop safe and supportive spaces for the unique needs of physicians at risk of burning out.
When you allow yourself to truly see and sit with the fact that we are only here for a short period of time, it can feel scary… and also freeing.
Motherhood is by far the hardest thing that I have ever done and continue doing every day. It is 1 million times harder than being a doctor and requires such a delicate dance of unconditional love, consistency, and compromise. At the same time, there is no doubt that being a physician is one of the hardest professions out there.
Women physicians still face disproportionate challenges within their medical careers compared to men. In part 2 we illustrate general and woman-specific strategies to combat female physician burnout.
Medical malpractice litigation is a complex and distressing reality for physicians, with potential far-reaching consequences for their mental health and overall well-being.
In Part 3, we explore the systemic causes leading to physician suicide. In so doing we hope to contribute to physician suicide prevention and highlight the toxic systemic issues that no amount of resilience training or individual risk factor modification can fix.
In Part 2, we explore the barriers to physicians seeking help and debunk these. In so doing we hope to contribute to physician suicide prevention, improve understanding of the-seeking contributors to the epidemic of physician suicide.
Why doctors die: Physician suicide prevention (1)
In this article we explore science-based small and inexpensive self-care for physician self-care options that may, we hope, help relieve stress and ultimately tackle physician burnout.
Physician perfectionism and burnout are inextricably linked. Perfectionism in medicine is an unhealthy delusion that fuels not just burnout but mental illness and suicide in doctors. In this article, we explore the concept, causes, and dangers of perfectionistic thinking and behavior in doctors.
We need to talk about physician suicide. Nearly 300 physicians die by suicide every year. National tragedy does not begin to describe it. The agony experienced not just by the victims but their loved ones, colleagues, and patients doesn’t bear thinking about.
Nearly 300 doctors a year die by suicide. That’s a million patients losing their doctors every year. Beyond the horrific numbers are the human stories. In this article, we reference a physician suicide register that collected details of our lost colleagues.
We remember the human beings — physicians, bright, dedicated, loved and loving, yet still human — who died by suicide.
As a psychiatrist, it took me only a few years in practice to realise that everyone needs a therapist (at least once in their lives). Doctors, nurses, and all healthcare practitioners (HCPs) are no different.
At a recent Physicians Anonymous meeting, we discussed an article on random acts of kindness. Researchers gave 84 random people in a wintry Chicago park free hot chocolates. They were then given the choice to gift it to another or keep it for themselves. Guess what happened?
Women physicians still face disproportionate challenges within their medical careers compared to men. Unsurprisingly, those women who face more work-related stressors report less satisfaction with their careers, and more burnout occurs in female doctors.
This blog explores the science of gratitude for physicians, how it may tackle burnout, and gives some suggestions for gratitude practice.
In a previous article, we explored the evidence base for gratitude. In this article, we illustrate 7 physician gratitude practices that may help on a level. We also note that no one intervention is a panacea for the core systemic issues causing the current epidemic of physician burnout and moral injury.
If there is anything positive to come from this pandemic, it is the 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.
