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

Meditation, yoga, and mindfulness aren’t going to solve physician burnout

Linda Girgis, MD
Physician
October 9, 2018
Share
Tweet
Share

Recently, my inbox has been overfilled with offers for programs, yoga, meditation, and a whole host of mindfulness training opportunities to combat physician burnout. I think by now everyone knows that doctors are fighting high burnout rates. But, those sending these “special offers” don’t get the root of the problem. We’re not burned out because we work long hours in a stressful job with limited time off. Rather, we are burned out because we are trying to function as doctors in a broken, dysfunctional system.

What are the root causes of physician burnout?

Loss of control. Every day, many times a day, I am forced to take on an insurance company to get a diagnostic test or medication covered that a patient needs. This sometimes takes hours of my staff time and many times ends in a denial despite the time investment.

Not being able to help our patients. I know many people don’t think doctors care. Honestly, most doctors do. I have one patient who was told she needs a joint replacement three years ago. We are still fighting the denials while the patient gets worse and worse. She wants to get better and go back to work but she is just getting more disabled because she is not getting the treatment she needs. And the only reason she is not getting the care that would make her better is that her insurance company refuses to cover it. Yes, I know it is much harder for this patient than it is for me but imagine watching that scenario play out hundreds of times.

Over-regulation. We used to keep patient records in order to keep track of their medical histories. But, once the government started passing mandates on how the record should be maintained, the records have now become a data capturing tool that are more useful for insurance companies than doctors. You know how people keep complaining  the doctor just looks at their computer and not the patient anymore? Well, we don’t want to do that, but the burden of the metrics reporting has grown into a wild beast that is difficult to tame. Let us have our medical records back and we won’t need to sit on the computer so much.

Over-administration. Although I’m in private practice, I hear the horror stories that are rained down on employed physicians by the non-physician (mostly) executives. There is the pressure to see more patients, be more productive, earn high customer satisfaction scores, and keep costs down.

Run away costs. Patients often can’t afford the medications I prescribe. Sure, I can prescribe a cheaper alternative, but it is not always the best one for whatever is wrong with the patient. Patients often don’t want to go to specialists because of the high copays and deductibles. Also, services such as physical therapy (PT)  are often too over-priced for many. While our politicians clamor for an end to the opioid crisis, it remains the far more affordable treatment than alternatives such as PT.

Long hours/stressful work. Yes, I said earlier that this is not the cause for burnout. Rather, it contributes to the ever-increasing burnout of many doctors. We all knew we would be working long hours, under stress when we first entered medical school. But, when you combine it to the other factors facing us, it becomes harder to handle that stress and those hours.

While meditation, yoga and mindfulness training may work for some (I’m all for easy solutions to complex problems), burnout will never go away until the root causes are addressed. And who really is going to do that? Corporations are profiting off the dysfunction and politicians are making their careers off the agendas supporting them.

Linda Girgis is a family physician who blogs at Dr. Linda.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

How medical school saved this student's life

October 9, 2018 Kevin 0
…
Next

Medicine is a word with 3 meanings

October 9, 2018 Kevin 0
…

Tagged as: Practice Management

Post navigation

< Previous Post
How medical school saved this student's life
Next Post >
Medicine is a word with 3 meanings

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Linda Girgis, MD

  • Stand up and be heard. But don’t hate your doctor.

    Linda Girgis, MD
  • Why this physician believes in Santa Claus

    Linda Girgis, MD
  • Has health care lost its humanity?

    Linda Girgis, MD

Related Posts

  • Chasing numbers contributes to physician burnout

    DrizzleMD
  • A physician’s addiction to social media

    Amanda Xi, MD
  • Why are we failing to solve burnout?

    Baird Brightman, PhD
  • Physician burnout is as much a legal problem as it is a medical one

    Sharona Hoffman, JD
  • Despite physician burnout, medical schools are still hard to get into. Why is that?

    Suneel Dhand, MD
  • How a physician keynote can highlight your conference

    Kevin Pho, MD

More in Physician

  • Why working in Hawai’i health care isn’t all paradise

    Clayton Foster, MD
  • How New Mexico became a malpractice lawsuit hotspot

    Patrick Hudson, MD
  • Why compassion—not credentials—defines great doctors

    Dr. Saad S. Alshohaib
  • Why Canada is losing its skilled immigrant doctors

    Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD
  • Why doctors are reclaiming control from burnout culture

    Maureen Gibbons, MD
  • Why screening for diseases you might have can backfire

    Andy Lazris, MD and Alan Roth, DO
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

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

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • How New Mexico became a malpractice lawsuit hotspot

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • How community paramedicine impacts Indigenous elders

      Noah Weinberg | Conditions
    • Why doctors are reclaiming control from burnout culture

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • 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
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • How medical culture hides burnout in plain sight

      Marco Benítez | Conditions
  • Recent Posts

    • Who will train the next generation of primary care clinicians without physician mentorship? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
    • The CDC’s restructuring: Where is the voice of health care in the room?

      Tarek Khrisat, MD | Policy
    • Choosing between care and country: a dual citizen’s Independence Day reflection

      Kathleen Muldoon, PhD | Policy
    • What Elon Musk and Diddy reveal about the price of power

      Osmund Agbo, MD | Conditions
    • 3 tips for using AI medical scribes to save time charting

      Erica Dorn, FNP | Tech

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 6 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

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

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • How New Mexico became a malpractice lawsuit hotspot

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • How community paramedicine impacts Indigenous elders

      Noah Weinberg | Conditions
    • Why doctors are reclaiming control from burnout culture

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • 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
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • How medical culture hides burnout in plain sight

      Marco Benítez | Conditions
  • Recent Posts

    • Who will train the next generation of primary care clinicians without physician mentorship? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
    • The CDC’s restructuring: Where is the voice of health care in the room?

      Tarek Khrisat, MD | Policy
    • Choosing between care and country: a dual citizen’s Independence Day reflection

      Kathleen Muldoon, PhD | Policy
    • What Elon Musk and Diddy reveal about the price of power

      Osmund Agbo, MD | Conditions
    • 3 tips for using AI medical scribes to save time charting

      Erica Dorn, FNP | Tech

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

Meditation, yoga, and mindfulness aren’t going to solve physician burnout
6 comments

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

Loading Comments...