Kim Downey

Wherever conversations surrounding health care occur, similar frustrations emerge, whether I’m speaking with a physician in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia, or New Zealand. I’ve recently been in dialogue with Olivia Morris, co-founder and CEO of Verity Barrington and Doctors Living in Ireland. Olivia has been a global physician advocate for the past ten years. Given that role, along with being married to a doctor, Olivia has acquired an intimate understanding of the issues plaguing physicians around the world. We are both fierce advocates for physicians in different capacities, and it is important for all voices to be heard as we work towards positive changes that will benefit doctors and patients.

Olivia Morris

“I thought it was just me” is the most common sentence I hear from physicians.

In medicine, more than 60 percent of physicians are struggling with their mental health, burned out, or just feeling overwhelmed in life. Yet, the majority of these individuals never let anybody know they are struggling, not even their loved ones.

This behavior and cultural mentality in medicine are leaving our physicians feeling like they’re the only ones feeling this way when, in reality, they’re going through the same as many others around them.

The harm inflicted in medicine extends far beyond a country’s borders and is being seen throughout the world. The lack of compassion, unity, and care has been a common theme in health care, and this is only growing year on year, no matter where they practice. This shows us that it has nothing to do with how health care is funded or which government is in charge. It goes far deeper than this, yet we do not look at the whole picture, rather we look at the one we are told to look at.

The culture in medicine is to never complain, never show weakness, never show emotions, and keep going no matter what. Your life is secondary to that of your patients and even your colleagues. This is the only way to get human beings to perform beyond normal human capacity without complaining or leaving.

Due to medicine’s intensity, there is no way to avoid this creeping into a physician’s personal life. It soon becomes everything they are, and before they know it, they have forgotten how to be any other way. This harm then ripples into their loved ones’ lives and causes friction, added stress, and hurt, which results in this vicious cycle that is hard to escape.

Being this isolated in their own thoughts and having inner sacrifice as their default mode is a recipe for disaster, and we see this manifested with continuing deterioration in mental health and physician suicide. The number of physicians who have considered suicide is enough to fill the Michigan Stadium, and it is rising every year.

This is a situation that we cannot simply just talk about anymore; we must start seeing action taken to prevent these avoidable tragedies from happening. However, after nearly a decade of advocating for physicians globally, I can see that the reluctance to change is extremely high, and even getting the door open to the C-suite in health care is like prying open a safe door with a toothpick.

I am often asked what I believe the solution is and how we can save physicians’ lives. Honestly, I believe if we can bring more humanity back to health care, then we have a chance. But this alone isn’t enough; we will need to educate society in preventative care so that we can empower individuals to take more responsibility for their health and well-being, and we need to start investing in the future.

If we can shift the sick care model into one of prevention, thus removing unnecessary health care burdens, then we will start to see a system shift towards a more positive state, witness better patient outcomes, and provide an environment that isn’t overwhelmed like it is today. We also need to see a big move towards clinician-led/owned hospitals, as they have the insights and knowledge to improve the system more than anybody else.

A big obstacle we must deal with is financial greed in health care, which hinders us as we move towards preventative care. It will take trillions in investment over decades before we see this model working effectively, and this isn’t in any business or investor’s time frame, so there are a lot of feet being dragged and a hope that technology will provide the solution in a more cost-efficient and profit-driven way.

My argument is that no tech or AI can solve our health care problem. If we lose the humanity involved in medicine and sacrifice our clinicians because they are “error-prone” or burned out, then what are we saying to these people who have given their lives for ours? They are expendable.

If we can somehow unite our clinicians and patients and allow them to both have an open and honest conversation where they can really listen to each other and communicate effectively, then we are closer to an environment that can thrive.

Today that is not happening, and more than 50 percent of medical students don’t even plan to practice clinical medicine, while simultaneously, there are record rates of physicians leaving practice. If we cannot help fix this issue now, we won’t have anything left to save, and that cannot be allowed to happen.

I believe we need to bring hope and opportunities to our physicians. I have recently been working with many physicians to help them find their voice and build their personal brands. It has been amazing to see the enormous impact this has had on their lives by giving them back their identity and control over their personal and professional journey.

If we can come together and show our physicians that we care and that they are appreciated and valued, then we will be moving in the right direction for everyone.

Together we can make a difference.

Olivia Morris is a health care executive. Kim Downey is a physical therapist.