Category: Uncategorized

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Jillian Reigert My Teacher Tree

Meet my teacher – morning musings

I do my best thinking in the quiet, calmness of nature – with space to breathe and observe the beauty of the world around us. I perform best when I have time to think, process, and move at ease with intention. For years, I pushed myself to move faster – with an urgency that was getting me places faster- only to realize I was missing the opportunity to enjoy the journey and the destinations were not where I wanted to be.

Resident burnout

Resident burnout epidemic

Medical residents’ mental health deteriorates during their training, but there are solutions to this resident burnout epidemic.

Combating female physician burnout

5 solutions to burnout in female physicians

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.

physician suicide causes

Physician suicide prevention (3): Solving root causes

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.

Physician suicide prevention

Physician suicide prevention (2): Overcoming barriers

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.