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

The doctor’s emotional switch

Mark P. Abrams, MD
Physician
March 12, 2018
Share
Tweet
Share

The “doctor switch,” a protective coping mechanism ingrained into the emotional training of doctors, is a double-edged sword.

Doctors see and experience things that many people would consider intimate, gory, horrifying and even repulsive on a regular basis. Doctors must balance the scales of life and death in their hands in addition to the heavy responsibility of carrying the health and wellness of their patients in addition to living their own personal lives. The “doctor switch” is what I call the emotional state doctors often learn to acquire in order to prevent themselves from feeling vulnerable to all of these daily emotional assaults on their mental health. This emotional stoicism could also be described as compartmentalization, a thick skin, putting up walls or even, frankly, dehumanization. Regardless of what it’s called, many believe its role is to prevent doctors from getting more burnt out and depressed.

As I notice less human interaction with the modernization of patient care, physicians must cautiously welcome the benefits of these changes and be cognizant of the tendency many seem to have to lose the coveted skill once known as bedside manner. In the metacognition of how doctors think, efficiency and outcomes often trump the patient-doctor relationship. Good bedside manner — a term that could be used to summarize empathy, humanism, and genuineness — has been associated with better patient satisfaction, adherence to medicines, and even less physician burnout and depression.

However, we are left wondering why research shows that physician trainees are losing their ability to connect with patients as they go through the process of becoming a doctor and acquiring this thick skin. This paradox of gaining experience yet becoming number to it, I believe, is in part due to this doctor switch.

From the patient’s perspective, it is imperative that one is able to trust the doctor with the intimate information one is disclosing. With maximal vulnerability and exposure, trust and empathy must be mutual. It is easy to get caught up in the job and forget that your patient perceives you as a human being with the privilege of taking care of them.

As health care modernizes with technology and digital communications more integrated into our care of patients, we as physicians should resist the temptation to close our emotional doors and embrace the ups and downs that come with the privilege of patient care. After all, are we treating disease and prescribing medications or are we treating mothers, sons, grandparents, sisters and friends?

Mark P. Abrams is a cardiology fellow.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

Obamacare prices are rising. But not for the reasons you think.

March 12, 2018 Kevin 6
…
Next

What can physicians do about mass shootings?

March 12, 2018 Kevin 15
…

Tagged as: Hospital-Based Medicine, Primary Care

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Obamacare prices are rising. But not for the reasons you think.
Next Post >
What can physicians do about mass shootings?

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Mark P. Abrams, MD

  • COVID-19 and America’s true colors

    Mark P. Abrams, MD
  • Eliminate the middlemen of private insurance companies

    Mark P. Abrams, MD

Related Posts

  • Why social media may be causing real emotional harm

    Edwin Leap, MD
  • Osler and the doctor-patient relationship

    Leonard Wang
  • Finding a new doctor is like dating

    R. Lynn Barnett
  • The doctor will see you now. But only for a minute.

    Steven Zhang, MD
  • Emotional support animals for health care providers

    Brittany Ladson
  • The emotional side of genetic testing

    Erin Paterson

More in Physician

  • Why U.S. health care pricing is so confusing—and how to fix it

    Ashish Mandavia, MD
  • From survival to sovereignty: What 35 years in the ER taught me about identity, mortality, and redemption

    Kenneth Ro, MD
  • When doctors forget how to examine: the danger of lost clinical skills

    Mike Stillman, MD
  • When the white coats become gatekeepers: How a quiet cartel strangles America’s health

    Anonymous
  • The man in seat 11A survived, but why don’t our patients?

    Dr. Vivek Podder
  • When did we start treating our lives like trauma?

    Maureen Gibbons, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • 2 hours to decide my future: How the SOAP residency match traps future doctors

      Nicolette V. S. Sewall, MD, MPH | Education
    • Why removing fluoride from water is a public health disaster

      Steven J. Katz, DDS | Conditions
    • When did we start treating our lives like trauma?

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
    • In a fractured world, Brian Wilson’s message still heals

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Physician
    • What if medicine had an exit interview?

      Lynn McComas, DNP, ANP-C | Conditions
    • How doctors took back control from hospital executives

      Gene Uzawa Dorio, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • The silent toll of ICE raids on U.S. patient care

      Carlin Lockwood | Policy
    • Why shared decision-making in medicine often fails

      M. Bennet Broner, PhD | Conditions
    • My journey from misdiagnosis to living fully with APBD

      Jeff Cooper | Conditions
    • Why we fear being forgotten more than death itself

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • What if medicine had an exit interview?

      Lynn McComas, DNP, ANP-C | Conditions
    • Why U.S. health care pricing is so confusing—and how to fix it

      Ashish Mandavia, MD | Physician
    • From survival to sovereignty: What 35 years in the ER taught me about identity, mortality, and redemption

      Kenneth Ro, MD | Physician
    • When doctors forget how to examine: the danger of lost clinical skills

      Mike Stillman, MD | Physician
    • When your dream job becomes a nightmare [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Finding healing in narrative medicine: When words replace silence

      Michele Luckenbaugh | Conditions

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 38 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

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • 2 hours to decide my future: How the SOAP residency match traps future doctors

      Nicolette V. S. Sewall, MD, MPH | Education
    • Why removing fluoride from water is a public health disaster

      Steven J. Katz, DDS | Conditions
    • When did we start treating our lives like trauma?

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
    • In a fractured world, Brian Wilson’s message still heals

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Physician
    • What if medicine had an exit interview?

      Lynn McComas, DNP, ANP-C | Conditions
    • How doctors took back control from hospital executives

      Gene Uzawa Dorio, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • The silent toll of ICE raids on U.S. patient care

      Carlin Lockwood | Policy
    • Why shared decision-making in medicine often fails

      M. Bennet Broner, PhD | Conditions
    • My journey from misdiagnosis to living fully with APBD

      Jeff Cooper | Conditions
    • Why we fear being forgotten more than death itself

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • What if medicine had an exit interview?

      Lynn McComas, DNP, ANP-C | Conditions
    • Why U.S. health care pricing is so confusing—and how to fix it

      Ashish Mandavia, MD | Physician
    • From survival to sovereignty: What 35 years in the ER taught me about identity, mortality, and redemption

      Kenneth Ro, MD | Physician
    • When doctors forget how to examine: the danger of lost clinical skills

      Mike Stillman, MD | Physician
    • When your dream job becomes a nightmare [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Finding healing in narrative medicine: When words replace silence

      Michele Luckenbaugh | Conditions

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

The doctor’s emotional switch
38 comments

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

Loading Comments...