Maiysha Clairborne is an integrative family physician and is the co-author of Conscious Anti-Racism: Tools for Self-Discovery, Accountability and Meaningful Change.
I remember when I first decided to step away from medicine. While I wasn’t burned out like some of my colleagues whom I would later coach, I did have what I now understand to be compassion fatigue. It was a familiar feeling I had felt before, and I knew that if I continued down the path, it would take me right back to the night I almost ended my life.
Called …
Three weeks ago, I attended a diversity, equity, and inclusion conference, the Inaugural Kenniebriew Conference at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, where I had the pleasure of being one of the keynote speakers. To close this conference, my wonderful colleague and fellow keynote speaker Dr. Ann-Gel Palermo gave a riveting and inspiring talk on moving from allyship to co-liberation.
What I took away from this very insightful inquiry is that …
I’ve been semi-retired in clinical medicine for almost four years now. Initially, I found myself coaching burned out physicians: Helping them recover, finding careers they love, and even starting their own businesses outside the box. However, as I listened to my inner voice, I was led back to my healing roots, and that opened up a career opportunity I would have never imagined to have.
Let me back up a bit. …
“Failure was not an option” is a phrase that I’ve heard so many times as entry point conversations with the many burned out physician moms and women in medicine I have coached. And in many ways, they are right. However, the context from which it is said is oftentimes what has led to the experience of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion.
When I was first out of residency, I decided to …
The night I almost swallowed a bottle of Percocet post-call in residency is still clear in my mind, as is the hours leading up to it; the thoughts going through my head, the swirl of emotions seemingly pulling me like an ocean undertow. I can only attribute my pause to a power greater than myself. The truth is when I look back on that night, I can see that those …
With burnout on the rise, many physicians are choosing to leave clinical medicine for alternative careers. Other physicians are wondering if it’s worth it to stay in a workforce that does not pull for the well being of their front line workers. Gone are the days where physicians stay stuck, suffering in a practice or career that is no longer fulfilling or worse, causing burnout. Those physicians are considered old-school …
With burnout on the rise, many physicians are choosing to leave clinical medicine for alternative careers. Other physicians are wondering if it’s worth it to stay in a workforce that does not pull for the well being of their frontline workers.
Gone are the days where physicians stay stuck suffering in a practice or career that is no longer fulfilling or worse, causing burnout. Those physicians are considered old-school and are …
As physicians, we are seen as leaders whether we like it or not. And as such, we are charged with modeling greatness. But do we? Our training, while teaching us to be experts and authorities, does not teach us how to be leaders.
One thing our training does teach us: self-neglect, self-sacrifice and unrealistic expectation. This is where I believe our training has failed us. For most of us, our training …
When it comes to physicians burning out, for the most part, it is assumed that work is the primary cause. After all, physicians work long hours, have demanding schedule, and have to deal with the endless politics that comes with medicine. However, I often encounter burned out docs (many of who wear multiple hats outside of the home) who would claim themselves that work was not their primary cause of …
The subject of physician burnout has become a major point of contention in our community. Institutions try to help by implementing “mindfulness programs” or bringing in “burnout experts” for a one-time lecture. Physicians complain that the system is flawed and mindfulness is just another way for them to “blame the victim” for being burned out. Meanwhile, there are doctors who are simply trying to survive through each day; they walk …
Every day, I see and hear physicians sharing and complaining about how burned out they are. However, I am struck by the fact that while we coach our patients to get help when they are suffering, sick, depressed or in a state of hopelessness, we refuse to follow our own advice. Furthermore as physicians, when presented with potential avenues to alleviate our pain and suffering, we find reasons to be …
When looking at why we as an industry have been largely unsuccessful in combating the epidemic of burnout that is plaguing our community, we must deal with our approach to solutions.
One of the biggest things to distinguish about burnout is that it’s not a problem to be solved. It’s not a diagnosis to be made, and it’s not a condition to be treated. Burnout is a perplexity; a vicious cycle …
As physicians, we are conditioned to put ourselves last. This long-standing tendency likely began way before we hit medical school. But certainly, our training reinforces it. Think about it: the personality type that goes into medicine is typically a caretaker. And while medical school reinforces this personality pitfall, It doesn’t end there. Residency brings a whole other dimension of self-neglect. We think, “If I can just get out of residency …
One of the biggest points of contention in the ongoing discussion of burnout is that the system of health care is flawed. The endless bureaucracy, decreasing physician pay, and increasing meaningful use requirements that spawn endless clicking on an already inefficient electronic medical record platform have become unbearable by most practicing physicians today.
Furthermore, all the talk about mindfulness only riles up more anger in physicians as they feel they are …
As physicians, we are regarded as intelligent. Are we, as a community, as emotionally intelligent as we could be? The answer is no. Let’s face it. We are trained from the time we are medical students to disconnect and suppress our emotion, and we are taught to appear stoic and strong. Showing emotion in front of patients is discouraged, even in a situation that would be deemed acceptable by most. …
Physician burnout has become the new “buzzword” in the medical industry that is the catalyst for ongoing research and the implementation of new “pilot projects” in the academic world of medicine. However, the research that is being done, is fairly (and predictably) narrow-minded when it comes to teasing out who really is at highest risk for these burnout, depression and even physician suicide.
The research indicates that there are several risk …
Mindfulness has gained a lot of awareness and attention over the last few years as the medical community has set out to find strategies for prevention of physicians burnout. What has been coined “mindfulness-based stress reduction” or “mindfulness” is a principle proven long before medical researchers decided to reduce it to treatment strategy to promote acceptance among the physician community. This very useful tool today is becoming widely used in …
As physicians, we are seen as leaders whether we like it or not. And as such, we are charged with modeling greatness. But do we? Our training, while teaching us to be experts and authorities, does not teach us how to be leaders. However, somehow we get out into practice and are automatically seen as leaders, and thrown into positions that require a skill that we don’t have. And we …
There’s a saying: “Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.” However, some people thrive by complaining. These people, when presented with potential solutions to the problem, argue and invalidate all possibilities presented. Sounds familiar? Being a physician advocate in the battle to lower physician burnout and prevent suicide in doctors, I am disheartened to see this phenomenon in our community. While there are frontline physicians — even physician leaders — …
The onset of the new millennium has brought about a shift in not only the technological aspect of our industry, but also the mindset of physicians who are entering the field. Gone are the days of “work 40 years at the same practice, retire and live the good life.” Physicians are finding more creative ways to be doctors including entering non-clinical careers, being entrepreneurs on the side, and moving into …
Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.
