Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Physician burnout: Medicine fails us

Starla Fitch, MD
Physician
December 22, 2014
Share
Tweet
Share

We are often our own worst critics.

Whenever doctors feel down, or burned out in our roles as health care providers and healers, we look inward. We wonder what is wrong with us. What could we do differently? We wonder why other doctors don’t have this problem.

The truth is, we do. We all do.

And yes, sometimes the problem is within us.

But other times, the problem is outside of us. Sometimes, it’s not our failure.

It’s medicine’s failure.

And that’s when it gets rough.

Let’s look at it objectively for a minute. We’ve done our duty. Studied like mad to get into med school or nursing school or vet school. Worked crazy hours through our training, while striving to maintain our spirits, our stamina, and our motivation. Missed countless family gatherings, weddings, funerals, and baby’s first steps. Kept up the momentum after training and given each of our patients the love we would hope our beloved grandmother would receive.

Then what?

Then medicine smacks us — not a little, but a lot.

Medicine fails us when we are told that we must recertify our board exams every 5 or 7 or 10 years. The tests are grueling, expensive, and typically do not have anything to do with what we are currently doing medicine-wise to help others. It feels like a slap in the face to spend thousands of dollars and hours to maintain our status quo.

Medicine fails us when we are told we must change the way we present data. We’re required to spend more time, money, and effort to use electronic medical records. And then, we must change the coding system so that paper-pushers, who do not take patient calls, do not care for patients, and who do not know the difference between cancer-treating procedures and cosmetic ones, will have an easier time denying payment for our services.

Medicine fails us when we are told to ensure our patients are “satisfied.” Are they satisfied after we explain the reason their infection is not healing is because their diabetes is out of control due to poor eating habits? Are they satisfied after we explain that the reason they are not getting better is because they stopped taking the medication we prescribed? Are they satisfied after we tell them—again—to quit smoking so they can breathe better?

And medicine fails us when mistakes are made.

  • Mistakes made by colleagues in the OR, the office, or the boardroom.
  • Mistakes due to cutbacks that allow our surgical instruments to be improperly sterilized, putting our patients at risk.
  • Mistakes due to certification processes that push colleagues to use robotics for procedures so they can accumulate enough hours to meet the certification criteria, even though they are not skilled in the first place.
  • Mistakes made by nurses in medication delivery because they are so short-staffed that they must do everything, for everyone, all the time.

It’s medicine’s mistakes that make me weep and wonder about our future. Not merely the future of medicine, but the future of our world.

ADVERTISEMENT

When medicine fails us so deeply, so undeniably, so irrevocably, I struggle to remain the glass-half-full person you’ve come to know. And I not only burnout, I bottom out.

It’s times like this that I don’t have all the answers. I don’t even have some of the answers.

And maybe that’s okay. Maybe it helps me better understand the frustration and sadness in the emails and phone calls from my colleagues.

Maybe it helps remind me that we’re all just human beings, trying to make a difference, one patient, one colleague, one day at a time.

Starla Fitch is an ophthalmologist, speaker and personal coach.  She blogs at Love Medicine Again and is the author of Remedy for Burnout: 7 Prescriptions Doctors Use to Find Meaning in Medicine. She can also be reached on Twitter @StarlaFitchMD. 

Prev

Is there any benefit of duty hour reforms?

December 22, 2014 Kevin 5
…
Next

Fix the problem of expert testimony

December 22, 2014 Kevin 1
…

Tagged as: Surgery

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Is there any benefit of duty hour reforms?
Next Post >
Fix the problem of expert testimony

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Starla Fitch, MD

  • A cancer scare changed my life in 7 seconds

    Starla Fitch, MD
  • Doctors experience the world differently

    Starla Fitch, MD
  • No, doctors aren’t to blame for burnout

    Starla Fitch, MD

More in Physician

  • How regulatory overreach is destroying innovation in U.S. health care

    Kayvan Haddadan, MD
  • The unseen cost of detachment in radiology

    Dr. Yesu Raju
  • I thought success was a destination. Then I became a doctor.

    Ryan Nadelson, MD
  • How subjective likability practices undermine Canada’s health workforce recruitment and retention

    Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD
  • Why judgment is hurting doctors—and how mindfulness can heal

    Jessie Mahoney, MD
  • Why evidence-based management may be an effective strategy for stronger health care leadership and equity

    Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
    • How New Mexico became a malpractice lawsuit hotspot

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why health care leaders fail at execution—and how to fix it

      Dave Cummings, RN | Policy
    • How digital tools are reshaping the doctor-patient relationship

      Vineet Vishwanath | Tech
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
  • Recent Posts

    • How regulatory overreach is destroying innovation in U.S. health care

      Kayvan Haddadan, MD | Physician
    • Why the U.S. mental health care system is failing and how to fix it [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The unseen cost of detachment in radiology

      Dr. Yesu Raju | Physician
    • I thought success was a destination. Then I became a doctor.

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician
    • Why psychotherapy works and why psychotherapy fails

      Peggy A. Rothbaum, PhD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 4 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
    • How New Mexico became a malpractice lawsuit hotspot

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why health care leaders fail at execution—and how to fix it

      Dave Cummings, RN | Policy
    • How digital tools are reshaping the doctor-patient relationship

      Vineet Vishwanath | Tech
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
  • Recent Posts

    • How regulatory overreach is destroying innovation in U.S. health care

      Kayvan Haddadan, MD | Physician
    • Why the U.S. mental health care system is failing and how to fix it [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The unseen cost of detachment in radiology

      Dr. Yesu Raju | Physician
    • I thought success was a destination. Then I became a doctor.

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician
    • Why psychotherapy works and why psychotherapy fails

      Peggy A. Rothbaum, PhD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Physician burnout: Medicine fails us
4 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...