In this workshop, we will examine how physician burnout affects not only our own health and happiness, but also the quality of care we provide to our patients. We will turn our focus to a coaching methodology that physicians and patients can use at home to focus their work on their own health and happiness.
As a retired physician who has now become involved in suicide awareness and advocacy, I believe burnout is a very real issue among physicians and I am pleased to see that many medical schools and residencies are addressing the need for physician self care. My personal belief is that it is hard for physicians to ask for help since they are the ones who’ve gone into the profession to help others. Drivers of burnout include work load, work inefficiency, lack of autonomy and meaning in work, and work-home conflict. It may be hard for a physician to seek help for mental health issues because of stigma and the feeling that they are the ones who should be helping others and not needing help themselves. This can lead to self-medication with drugs or alcohol because of possible feelings of shame, guilt and confidentiality issues.
