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?
Physician Passion as a Professional Category
My friend Paul Sufka was planning a grand rounds on social media. He asked Twitter to identify the top few folks in each specialty so that the audience could have a place to start. A seed list for new folks getting going on Twitter. The problem is that many of the top voices ‘by specialty’ don’t have much to say about their work. Esther Choo, an ER ... Continue Reading about Physician Passion as a Professional Category
The Zero-Sum Medical Day
Physicians are under increasing demand to achieve the Clinical Trifecta of productivity, quality and satisfaction. As pressure for scaling efficiency mounts, a growing number of stakeholders are charged with keeping doctors compliant and productive. Each stakeholder is typically only with their task - their spreadsheet, graph, email query, documentation correction, ... Continue Reading about The Zero-Sum Medical Day
Physician Access and Time Creep
With the birth of Twitter some years ago physician activist Wes Fisher first described time creep (I'll add the link or the Tweet if someone can find it). That's the evolving ability to be reached that comes with new communication platforms. Time creep impacts everyone according to Jennifer Close in the New York Times: The new normal in work culture is for everyone ... Continue Reading about Physician Access and Time Creep