4 minute read
4 minute read
Many physicians go through years of school and training due to a true vocation for the work of healing.
Physicians are especially susceptible to professional burnout—a feeling characterized by emotional exhaustion, a loss of enthusiasm for work, feelings of cynicism, and a low sense of personal accomplishment.
Due to passion for their work, physicians may experience conflicts between caring for patients and caring for themselves.
This can be especially difficult for those with personal commitments, as an unmanageable schedule can lead to a dissatisfying home life as well as depression and poor performance at work.
Physician burnout can not only affect physicians’ mental and physical well-being, but can also affect patient care as well. Maintaining a sense of work-life balance can help to alleviate professional burnout and result in better outcomes for both physicians and patients.
While practicing medicine can be incredibly personally fulfilling, it is also highly challenging and stressful.
Physicians are have higher rates than the population at large of professional burnout, which is characterized by emotional exhaustion, a loss of enthusiasm for work, feelings of cynicism, and a low sense of personal accomplishment.
Professional burnout can be exacerbated by feelings of loss of autonomy and over-extension.
Professional burnout can be exacerbated by feelings of loss of autonomy and over-extension while working as well as worries regarding student loan debt and time management outside of work.
Studies suggest that burnout can reduce quality of care and increase risks for medical errors. For physicians, there may be other adverse personal consequences like broken relationships and problematic alcohol use.
In 2011, a national study found that about 45.5 percent of US physicians reported at least one symptom of burnout. A follow-up survey in 2014 found that the percent of physicians that exhibited at least one symptom of burnout had increased to 54.4 percent.
Physicians also reported an increase in dissatisfaction with work-life balance between 2011 to 2014, from 40.9 percent to 48.5 percent.
Burnout is increasing across nearly all specialties.
There are several reasons that may explain why burnout is increasing across nearly all specialties.
Increases in bureaucratic pressures due to regulatory programs can lead to a feeling of loss of autonomy and take away critical time physicians could be spending with patients, which can cause added stress in physicians.
Another potential reason for increased burnout is the increase in hours at work.
A Physicians Foundation 2014 survey found that 81 percent of physicians were overextended or at full capacity, and 44 percent intended to reduce patient load by cutting back on new patients, going part-time, or quitting clinical practice altogether.
Worries about student debt and income are also of concern to physicians.
A 2015 Medscape survey found that many physicians felt that they had an unacceptable degree of debt or sufficient savings for their stage in life.
Financial concerns can quickly cause additional stress and increase the likelihood of experiencing professional burnout.
Nearly half of respondents from 40 to 44 reported still paying back student debt. In addition, 56 percent reported investing in something that either “did not work out” or “turned out badly.”
Financial concerns can quickly cause additional stress and increase the likelihood of experiencing professional burnout.
The highest rates are seen among physicians at the front line of care access, like family medicine, internal medicine, and emergency medicine. Other specialties with higher than the mean levels of burnout include OB/GYN and infectious disease.
The specialties with the lowest levels of burnout tend to be preventative medicine, dermatology, general pediatrics, pathology, and radiation oncology.
There are many things that may help those in all specialties to avoid personal burnout and maintain passion for the integral work that they do.
Successfully achieving a work-life balance comes down to carefully defining what you want and need out of your whole life, not work or home in isolation, and then deciding how time should be allocated.
The same work-life balance won’t work for everyone, so be honest with yourself and your priorities.
Cultivating work-life balance helps to alleviate professional burnout.
Cultivating work-life balance helps to alleviate professional burnout. Work-life balance can generally be viewed as a level of satisfaction with both personal and professional life.
It does not mean a 50-50 split between work and outside life, but rather it’s an allocation of your time and energy in a way that serves your goals.
Whether it’s making more time to exercise, or recognizing that your priority at the moment is working more to secure a promotion or partnership track, an honest assessment of what you want will be an important tool in achieving your goals.
It is also important to reassess these priorities as your life and work situation changes.
Another important tip is to avoid delayed gratification. Physicians spend such a long time in school and then residency and fellowships, that it becomes normal during that time to think “When I finish school…” or “When I finish residency…” and end up delaying happiness.
Avoiding this thinking after completing your education can help you to exist in the present. Just be sure to not over-do it and bust your budget.
Don’t be afraid to say no, or to let go of something before you take more on.
When considering whether to take on another project or responsibility, identify what is important to you and admit what isn’t. Don’t be afraid to say no, or to let go of something before you take more on.
On the line of knowing your limits, delegate what you can in order to focus on what’s really important.
Whether that’s hiring someone to clean your home or to manage your investments, outsourcing to a professional can help keep your focus on the integral work that you do.
Reducing financial stress is another way to reduce overall stress levels.
Come up with a financial plan to address everything from student loan debt to saving for retirement.
Putting in place financial protections such as disability and life insurance will also help your stress levels by making sure that your family and your income are protected.
Organization interventions like changing work schedules are another important way to relieve stress.
Controlling work hours and scheduling has increasingly been demonstrated to play an important role in reducing stress and improving career satisfaction.
When negotiating your contract, make sure to consider your scheduling! Think about your time management priorities and ask a contract attorney to help you negotiate what’s most important to you.
While there are many ways to achieve whatever form of work-life you are looking for, the key takeaways are to be honest with yourself about your priorities and to work through scheduling or delegation to achieve these goals.