There’s lots of talk about physician burnout. There’s even more talk about how we get rid of it. Everyone has a solution. But the problem with the conversation is that burnout is a sign, not a disease. Burnout is the downstream result of a number of complex upstream problems. But it's rarely the problem. Focusing on fixing burnout is like trying to eliminate fever ... Continue Reading about Burnout is a sign
The Circle of Safety and Physician Burnout
In his book, Leaders Eat Last — Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t, Simon Sinek discusses the importance of a safe work environment for innovation, productivity and survival. He calls this leader-driven space the Circle of Safety. It is easy to know when we are in the Circle of Safety because we can feel it. We feel valued by our colleagues and we feel ... Continue Reading about The Circle of Safety and Physician Burnout
MyChart Messages the Wild West of Patient Communication
Medicine is facing a crisis of information. Beyond the increase of biomedical information are rising demands for physician response to portal messaging (MyChart messages) and review of wearable generated data. More recently health professionals have seen a rise in MyChart messages coming in through the Epic patient portal. According to Epic, the number of ... Continue Reading about MyChart Messages the Wild West of Patient Communication
Moral Distress and Pet Theories of Burnout
This JAMA editorial, Clarifying the Language of Clinician Distress, offers a look at the complexity of physician burnout. The piece suggests that rather than talking about burnout we need to more precisely describe the problem for what it is: Moral distress. Moral distress, according to the authors, occurs when a doctor believes they know the right thing to do ... Continue Reading about Moral Distress and Pet Theories of Burnout
Surgery Work-life Balance Reconsidered
"You can sleep when you’re dead,” the surgery attending said to me in 1989 when I showed up from the call room a minute late for rounds. As funny as it sounds, I believed him. Surgery work-life balance has never been a thing. In fact, this mindset has been part of surgery’s (and medicine’s) hustle culture for years. Broken personal lives were sadly worn as a badge of ... Continue Reading about Surgery Work-life Balance Reconsidered
Is Self-care the Answer to Physician Burnout?
Among physicians, self-care is booming. This week on Twitter I pick this up from Esko Kilpi, Helsinki-based management guru: Our moral structures have been based on individualism emphasizing self-fulfillment, self-actualization and “fixing yourself.” What we would really need is a relational mindset emphasizing interdependence and ... Continue Reading about Is Self-care the Answer to Physician Burnout?