Hear me! A surgeon’s story (Part 2)
2023-11-20
I had lots of ideas about the root causes of my burnout and how my institution could address them. Don’t tell me to take a yoga class, fix the damn EMR!
I had lots of ideas about the root causes of my burnout and how my institution could address them. Don’t tell me to take a yoga class, fix the damn EMR!
Burnout almost led me to take my own life. It destroyed my identity as a surgeon. My medical identity and my life were so enmeshed that losing medicine caused me to mourn my own death. From this low point, I have rebuilt. With lots of intensive therapy, and regular mindfulness and other wellness practices I’ve been able to rise from the depths.
The latest US Physician Burnout & Depression Report (2023) from Medscape finds that physician burnout and depression are worsening. More than half of physicians (52%) reported that they are burned out and nearly 1 in 4 reporting that they are clinically depressed.
Recognizing the critical need for support and coping mechanisms, physician-led peer debriefing has emerged as a promising approach to alleviate the stress and emotional strain physicians face daily.
Doctors, nurses, and other healthcare heroes are often seen as invincible. We’re the ones who care, but who takes care of us?
In a world that constantly demands excellence, where the pursuit of perfection is the norm, there lies a secret joy hidden in the unlikeliest of places – the realm of mediocrity in medicine.
Bullying in medicine is a pervasive issue that has far-reaching consequences for healthcare trainees and professionals and, ultimately, patient care.
How an obsession with success can lead to physician burnout; and strategies for mitigation
Why do we need laws? After all, hospitals and healthcare businesses know all about the corporate risks of overwork! We argue that without legislation to force safety, nothing will change because little, if anything, has changed to protect healthcare staff from overwork.
I have so many regrets about my medical career that I don’t even know where to begin. And I am not alone. We all make mistakes, give suboptimal service, have off days, or (most often, in my experience), nature wins. The cancer progresses. The psychosis relapses. The diabetes complicates. So am I going to wallow in them and feel sorry for myself? Or is there another way of dealing with regrets in my career as a doctor?
For so many reasons the term “disruptive doctor” is unhelpful at best, cruel and discriminatory at worst. As a label it has been used and misused. Very few physicians start out disruptive. The reality is that disruptive behavior in physicians is often a symptom of a larger systemic problem. It may be related to stress, burnout, mental health issues, addiction, and more.
Medical malpractice litigation is a complex and distressing reality for physicians, with potential far-reaching consequences for their mental health and overall well-being.