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

Burnout prevention should be taught in residency

Kristin Yates, DO
Physician
June 6, 2019
Share
Tweet
Share

I was not at all prepared for my transition from being a resident to an attending. Now that there are work hour restrictions and constant oversight during training, graduating residents seldom get a preview of what it feels like to be at the top of the decision tree. I am an OB/GYN physician, so for me, this meant that I went from being on call with a handful of other residents and several attendings to being the only physician covering the obstetric and gynecologic patients. I am very lucky to be working in a supportive environment with plenty of people to call, but this was still a very terrifying change for me.

In many ways, the transition from resident to attending amplifies the bad behaviors that we learned in residency to cope with stress. I would respond to stress with chocolate, wine, and binge-watching reality TV. I was told by my friends and colleagues that my feelings of inadequacy never really go away, but that I would get better at dealing with them. Not long into the start of my career, I was overwhelmed, anxious, and looking for a way out of medicine.

The journey from medical student to attending is an interesting one. The things that we used to get excited about as a student is what is the biggest burden as an attending. I remember happily anticipating my first call shift as a third-year medical student. I was so excited to learn from all the ER admissions and getting to be more involved with patient care in the middle of the night. As an attending, I do not look forward to being on call, and pages from the ER are not something I particularly enjoy. As our responsibility for the patients increases, our anxiety naturally follows. It would be beneficial to have a way to counteract that anxiety so that we can continue to enjoy our careers for at least as long as we trained for them.

Burnout has become pervasive in health care. There are books, blogs, podcasts, and physician coaches all trying to decrease the rate of burnout. I can’t help but wonder that the solution, like so many other things, lies in the prevention of it altogether. Residency is a stressful several years, and it includes poor sleep habits, eating at all hours of the day and night, limited time to exercise and downtime consisting of large amounts of alcohol. When faced with the anxiety of being an attending, we lean on our residency habits to help us through. This leads to a deterioration in our health and our emotional well-being. It is a cycle that continues and often leads to physician burnout or to the abandonment of medical careers entirely.

It’s time to incorporate strategies to prevent physician burnout into residency programs. We need to teach our young physicians how to appropriately cope with stress. We need to be focusing on mindfulness and metacognition. We need to be preparing residents for life as attendings without sacrificing safety. Medicine is not going to get easier. Insurance companies are not going to start reimbursing at a better rate. Electronic health records aren’t going anywhere and will never be perfect. It’s time that we take control of our own happiness and teach young physicians how to do the same.

Kristin Yates is an obstetrician-gynecologist.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

When physician pay packages become hospital kickbacks

June 6, 2019 Kevin 3
…
Next

How depression made this doctor a better physician

June 6, 2019 Kevin 2
…

Tagged as: Psychiatry

Post navigation

< Previous Post
When physician pay packages become hospital kickbacks
Next Post >
How depression made this doctor a better physician

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Kristin Yates, DO

  • Breaking the chains of medical burnout: How physicians are reclaiming their well-being and transforming patient care

    Kristin Yates, DO
  • How physicians can transform through play

    Kristin Yates, DO
  • Don’t call me “doctor”

    Kristin Yates, DO

Related Posts

  • Chasing numbers contributes to physician burnout

    DrizzleMD
  • If medical students are already experiencing burnout, how are they going to survive residency?

    Misha Armstrong
  • A call to clinicians: Contrary to what you’ve been taught, use social media

    Joshua Mansour, MD
  • Residency training, and training in residency

    Michelle Meyer, MD
  • 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

More in Physician

  • How to handle chronically late patients in your medical practice

    Neil Baum, MD
  • How early meetings and after-hours events penalize physician-mothers

    Samira Jeimy, MD, PhD and Menaka Pai, MD
  • Why medicine must evolve to support modern physicians

    Ryan Nadelson, MD
  • Why listening to parents’ intuition can save lives in pediatric care

    Tokunbo Akande, MD, MPH
  • Finding balance and meaning in medical practice: a holistic approach to professional fulfillment

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

    Kayvan Haddadan, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why timing, not surgery, determines patient survival

      Michael Karch, MD | Conditions
    • 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

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
  • Recent Posts

    • Why point-of-care ultrasound belongs in every emergency department triage [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why PSA levels alone shouldn’t define your prostate cancer risk

      Martina Ambardjieva, MD, PhD | Conditions
    • How to handle chronically late patients in your medical practice

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • Reframing chronic pain and dignity: What a pain clinic teaches us about MAiD and chronic suffering

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Conditions
    • How early meetings and after-hours events penalize physician-mothers

      Samira Jeimy, MD, PhD and Menaka Pai, MD | Physician
    • Why medicine must evolve to support modern physicians

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician

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

Leave a Comment

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

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why timing, not surgery, determines patient survival

      Michael Karch, MD | Conditions
    • 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

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
  • Recent Posts

    • Why point-of-care ultrasound belongs in every emergency department triage [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why PSA levels alone shouldn’t define your prostate cancer risk

      Martina Ambardjieva, MD, PhD | Conditions
    • How to handle chronically late patients in your medical practice

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • Reframing chronic pain and dignity: What a pain clinic teaches us about MAiD and chronic suffering

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Conditions
    • How early meetings and after-hours events penalize physician-mothers

      Samira Jeimy, MD, PhD and Menaka Pai, MD | Physician
    • Why medicine must evolve to support modern physicians

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician

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

Leave a Comment

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

Loading Comments...