Struggling to find balance between work and the rest of life? Our own Dr. Damian McHugh shares wellness tips from Dr. Clark Gaither, a leading expert who literally wrote the book on beating physician burnout.
“I worry about the increasing demands in medicine to do more with less ... It’s a recipe for burnout.” “I’m concerned about work-life balance. The job always wants more—time, energy, effort.”
Earlier this year, Curi asked what keeps you up at night when it comes to medicine, business, and life. And you answered, honestly and vulnerably. So many of you spoke about trying but struggling to maintain a healthy balance between work at your practice, center, or hospital and life outside of those walls. About feeling burned out.
To help, we joined forces with the doctor who literally wrote the book on beating physician burnout: Clark Gaither, MD, FAAP, author of Reignite and Medical Director of the North Carolina Professionals Health Program. He and I recently sat down for an essential conversation about physician wellness.
I highly encourage you to watch the full fireside chat linked above; it was inspiring and insightful. But if you’re short on time, keep reading for a recap of the actionable strategies we discussed, including tips and resources you can use right now to start reconnecting with yourself and the reasons you chose medicine.
Key Takeaways:
- Job-related burnout is different from clinical depression: While you might experience a depressed mood when you’re burned out, leaving the work environment may relieve your symptoms.
- Well-being isn’t just about physical or mental health. It encompasses four realms: mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual—and all need TLC.
- Self-care is imperative: You must take care of yourself before you can take care of your patients.
- There's a wealth of resources available on physician wellness and burnout in healthcare. Don’t be afraid to use them.
Is It Burnout?
Before we get into strategies for combatting physician burnout, we must first define what it is, so you know if it’s what you’re dealing with. Dr. Gaither points to three key indicators:
- Emotional exhaustion
- Depersonalization/cynicism and detachment—from patients and the profession
- Lack of a sense of personal accomplishment
Burnout may arise from the administrative duties you’re asked to perform, or from anything that keeps you from spending time helping your patients.
Another way to understand this syndrome is by making clear what it is not: Job-related burnout isn’t major clinical depression.
According to Dr. Gaither, 90% of burnout is created by the work environment. This is an important distinction between the two, he notes: While burnout can leave you feeling depressed—as well as frustrated, angry, and resentful—your symptoms are likely alleviated fairly quickly if you take some time off or if you switch jobs. Not so with major depression. If you’re burned out, you’re also less likely to “vegetate,” he says. You may still get up, go to work, and do your job.
Another point of differentiation? “Burnout isn’t amenable to treatment with medication,” Dr. Gaither points out. “You have to address the underlying drivers.”
So, how do you do that?
Beating Burnout Tip #1: Deepen Your Understanding of Wellness
Dr. Gaither challenges clinicians to take time to reflect and think about what wellness, or well-being, actually means, without getting caught in the trap of defining it as just physical or mental health.
“We all have four realms: mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual,” he says. “Too many of us ignore one or more of those realms ... But they’re like four legs of a table: Remove one leg and the table is going to topple over.”
That doesn’t necessarily mean each aspect of your wellness needs equal time or treatment, he clarifies. Yet he stresses they all “deserve some scrutiny and some nourishment.”
It's helpful, he advises, to continue to remind yourself that wellness is multifaceted. True well-being can mean freedom from resentment, guilt, shame, toxic relationships, substances, debt, and the list goes on.
Beating Burnout Tip #2: Prioritize Your Well-Being
Do you have a list of five or 10 top priorities? Are you on it? You should be, Dr. Gaither encourages.
In fact, you should be near the top. This gives you permission or prompts you to take the time you need to focus on the four realms of wellness just mentioned.
Nurturing them all in the ways that feel right to you is the key to living your best life, he notes. What’s more, “Excellent care of patients begins with excellent care of self.”Beating Burnout Tip #3: Utilize Available Resources
Here are some recommendations from Dr. Gaither and myself:
- READ: The Truth About Burnout by Christina Maslach, who developed the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the industry gold standard for measuring burnout. You can also obtain this inventory tool and complete it to see how you rate in terms of other providers across the country.
- VISIT: The National Academy of Medicine’s Clinician Well-Being Knowledge Hub. “There’s more information posted there than you can read in a lifetime,” Dr. Gaither shares. “Whatever facet of workplace toxicity, or burnout, or physician wellness or well-being you might be interested in, you can find peer-reviewed articles and white papers there.”
- ADVOCATE: Familiarize yourself with the National Plan for Health Workforce Well-Being and encourage your hospital, hospital system, or group to adopt these recommendations.
- CALL: Your state’s physician health program, a confidential resource for clinicians suffering from psychiatric, medical, or other potentially impairing conditions. If you’re in North Carolina, the NC Professionals Health Program is a safe haven for you to get the help you need.
The Bottom Line on Physician Burnout
While burnout is complicated, the take-home message, Dr. Gaither emphasizes, is relatively simple: self-care. “Move yourself up on your list of priorities.”
He also reminds that it’s incumbent upon you to make change happen. That may mean you have to leave your current work environment. Staying might cause you to end up bitter, angry, and resentful. Leaving could help you join a workplace that honors your core values and allows you to innovate and get back to being engaged again.
Curi Resources
- Watch the full webinar with Dr. Gaither: Work-Life Balance: Helping Physicians Move Beyond Burnout
- Sign in to take our Well-Being Survey or access other member wellness resources
- Read additional articles about physician wellness from our expert team members
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