Our stories

radical-rest-doing-less

Radical rest: Why doing less made me a better doctor

Let me confess something that might sound ridiculous coming from a doctor: for most of my career, I treated rest like a threat. A sign of weakness. A guilty pleasure to be earned only after I’d answered every email, seen every patient, signed off every note, and probably rotated the tires on someone else’s car just to be safe.

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A split image of a dignified man: a physician on the left and an airline captain on the right, complete with a captain's uniform, hat, and a “Sully”-style mustache.

Resilience and true grit (Part 2)

Is the motive behind resilience training to retain staff so that the system can continue to stay revenue-positive, or is it an investment in the ultimate resource of medicine, the human one?

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A mature male physician with silver hair and a calm, authoritative expression, wearing a white lab coat and a surgical mask. He has reached the top of Mt Everest and is delighted. Following him is another dignified female physician in the same attire.

Resilience and true grit (Part 1)

I am just a physician who has spent 20+ years in the ER, had a few leadership roles along the way (which makes for a mildly robust LinkedIn profile), and nurtured some wisdom too. I think that is enough.

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Toddler Riding Bicycle on Road

Creating a culture of psychological safety in medicine

Psychological safety, defined as a shared belief that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking, is a critical component of effective healthcare delivery. Yet, numerous reports and studies indicate that a lack of psychological safety persists in many healthcare settings, leading to adverse outcomes for both patients and providers.

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Cartoon of physicians wearing masks in a support group

The ROI of supporting physician mental health

The cost of physician burnout and mental illness extends beyond individual suffering; it significantly impacts healthcare organizations’ financial health. Yet investing in mental health support for physicians yields significant returns.

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Poem - The Human Conundrum - Dr Preyasha Tuladhar

Physician poetry: The human conundrum

This poem, The Human Conundrum, explores the emptiness of consumerism and the need for deeper fulfillment through creativity, community, and connection with nature. It highlights the damage inflicted on the planet due to overconsumption while offering hope through imagination, unity, and action.

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medical student mental health

Start early: Medical student mental health

By the time we are finished our medical training, it’s too late. We have already absorbed or been infused with years of culture, tradition, attitude, and approaches to mental health. These attitudes are towards ourselves, our colleagues, and our patients. If we are to change the culture around physician mental health, we need to start with the doctors of tomorrow. Medical schools have a key role in tackling medical student mental health. And they should start yesterday.

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workplace psychological safety

Workplace psychological safety

This article defines workplace psychological safety, the toxic triangle of unsafe workplaces, and presents 4 principles for leaders to promote psychologically safe work environments.

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Physicians Anonymous Offerings

New year, new you?

As the new year begins, what are you going to do differently to improve your well being and happiness? In this article, we walk you through your options: change at your job, change your job, or change yourself. The latter option is made easier through Physicians Anonymous’s offerings.

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Social connection for physician burnout

Social connection for physician burnout

Social connection is good for us. Loss of social connection is a major causative factor in physician burnout. In this article we explore social connection for physician burnout, offering a number of suggestions to reach out and connect for your own wellbeing.

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Trauma in medical training

The trauma of medical training

“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.

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contemplative female physician letting go

Letting go for physicians

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.

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Peer support for physician burnout

Peer support for physician burnout

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.

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Stained glass window of a man hiking.

A life of purpose

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.

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Balancing Parenthood and a Medical Career

Balancing parenthood and a medical career

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.

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