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Physician voices
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…
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 …
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Psychological safety: an overlooked factor in clinician burnout and moral injury in health care
Physician voices
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…
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 …
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From solidarity to co-liberation: Understanding the journey towards ending oppression
Physician voices
Many health care professionals go into health care to help people, no matter their race, socioeconomic status, or other identities. Even as white health care professionals start to learn about the systemic nature of racism, something that our Black and…
Many health care professionals go into health care to help people, no matter their race, socioeconomic status, or other identities. Even as white health care professionals start to learn about the systemic nature of racism, something that our Black and other colleagues of color have experienced their whole lives, we may still see health care as “different” from all those other systems out there that are racist. Because we care …
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How the culture of health care perpetuates racism
Physician voices
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…
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. …
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How deep mindset work helped me find the courage to make my career transition
Physician voices
“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,…
“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 …
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The mindset of an entrepreneur: Why failure is an option
Physician voices
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…
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 …
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The thought cancers that almost took my life
Physician voices
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…
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 …
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9 non-clinical career options for doctors
Physician voices
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…
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 …
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9 non-medical careers for doctors
Physician voices
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…
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 …
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Leaders can bring doctors out of burnout
Physician voices
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…
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 …
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Physician burnout: When work is not the cause
Physician voices
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…
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 …
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Who’s really to blame for physician burnout?
Physician voices
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…
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 …
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8 reasons burned out doctors refuse help
Physician voices
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…
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 …
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Understanding physician burnout: It’s a perplexity
Physician voices
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.…
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 …
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4 ways doctors put themselves last
Physician voices
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…
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 …
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Take back our practices with physician cooperatives
Physician voices
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…
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. …
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Doctors are smart but not emotionally intelligent
Physician voices
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…
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 …
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A warning to women doctors: You are more at risk for burnout
Physician voices
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…
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 …
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Mindfulness is the key to physician burnout
Physician voices
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…
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 …
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Face it, doctors are bad leaders
Physician voices
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…
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 — …
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5 ways physicians suffer by complaining
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