Last week, I went to our integrated health care network meeting. Among the topics was physician burnout. Lately, this is a “hot” topic with a lot of publicity regarding this increasingly-common problem.
At our meeting, some of the keep points -noted below & in the slides that follow:
- Physician burnout rate is increasing based on most recent studies
- Many physicians, 42%, would not choose medicine as their career today
- Manifestations of burnout include “compassion” fatigue
Physicians may be more at risk for burnout due to the following:
- Frequent personality characteristics: workaholics, accustomed to delayed gratification
- Practice aspects: long hours, huge responsibilities
How to Prevent Burnout:
- Lower stress –recharge with outside activities: hobbies, excursions, charitable work, physical activities, and emotional/spiritual
- Resources: Stop Physician Burnout, Burnout Prevention Matrix both by Dike Drummond
Related blog post: Quality Care = Work Satisfaction for Physicians
Related blog posts:
- Addressing Physician Burnout
- Increasing Rates of Professional Burnout
- The burden of being a physician | gutsandgrowth
- MD Job Dissatisfaction –Million $ Mistake? | gutsandgrowth
- Off-Duty Doctors and Family Obligations | gutsandgrowth
- “It is never boring to be a physician” | gutsandgrowth
- Working While Sick: Red Badge of Courage or Scarlet Letter?
gutsandgrowth 
Hobbies, excursions, spiritual……..unfortunately physicians have played a limited role in the changes with the healthcare system but have bared the greatest weight. There’s a lack of evidence that the changes are effective as well. Dike Drummond looks to have a great deal of support from many healthcare systems, I would be cautious on his advice.