Physician Wellness and Resilience: Narrative Prompts to Address Burnout

by Pauline Davies (Editor), Cynthia M. Stonnington (Editor)

Overview

Physician Wellness and Resilience: Narrative Prompts to Address Burnout explores 26 compelling narratives from practicing doctors and medical students as they share their personal and professional encounters in their own words.

This volume seeks to expand the conversations around burnout and mental health in the medical profession and advocates for a deeper appreciation of physicians as human beings, complete with a range of emotions and fallibilities. Its diverse array of professionals spans various medical specialties and career stages and covers a range of experiences, including dealing with sexism, committing medical errors, handling challenging colleagues, and the fear and commitment involved in treating patients with COVID-19. Chapters include discussion prompts to encourage creative problem-solving among readers and nurture a caring and supportive work environment for physicians seeking assistance.

Designed for use in medical school seminars and physician wellness seminars, this book is essential reading for physicians, junior doctors, medical students, and mental health professionals who work within these populations.

The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781040295922
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	11/11/2024
Series:	Routledge Focus on Mental Health
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	156
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Pauline Davies is Professor of Practice and teaches human communication at Arizona State University. Specializing in cancer research outreach, she is also an award-winning former BBC science and health broadcaster.

Dr Cynthia M. Stonnington is an award-winning psychiatrist, educator, and wellness expert at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. She directed the psychiatry and psychology department for ten years.

Table of Contents

PART I Student life

1. Insight

Depression, career choice, identity management, privacy

2. Anxiety

Anxiety, help-seeking, privacy

3. Coping with Medical School Life

Work-life integration, perfectionism, failure, empathy

4. A Medical School Dean’s Perspective

Learning environment, career choice, role models

PART II Culture of Medicine

5. The Brunt of Anger

Medical hierarchy, bullying

6. Competition, Balance, and Happiness

Competition, suicide, prioritizing values

7. Suicide and Disenchantment

Suicide response and prevention, grief, stigma

PART III Practice Challenges

8. Medication Error

Medical errors, shame, humility, peer support

9. Commitment, Challenge, and Control

Resilience, setting boundaries, career change, life lessons

10. When Certainty Is Wrong

Sharing bad news with patients, when doctor is patient

11. Colleagues, Privacy, and Empathy

Privacy, workplace behavior, when doctor is patient

PART IV Career/Life Disruptions

12. Accident, Fear of Depression, and a Great Career

Depression, interrupted training, resilience, career choice, relative with mental illness

13. Childhood in Foster Care

Resilience, depression, help-seeking, relative with mental illness

14. From War-Torn Childhood to Life as a Foreign Medical Graduate

Resilience, role models, acculturation, racism

15. Empathizing with Mentally Ill People

Empathy, relative with mental illness, expressing emotions at work

PART V Women in Medicine

16. Infertile and Fulfilled

Fertility, resilience

17. Finding Balance with Kids and Career

Motherhood, women in medicine, giving bad news, insecurities at work

18. Motherhood in Training

Family planning, work-life integration, grief

19. Regrets and Dedication

Sex discrimination, bullying, infertility, fulfillment

PART VI COVID-19

20. Family Life in Covid Times

medicine as a calling, work-life integration, family support

21. The COVID-19 Experience

Uncertainty, witnessing death

22. COVID-19, the Aftermath

Burnout, depression, career change

PART VII Burnout

23. Leadership

Overwork, grief, suicide, leadership behavior

24. Pain Clinic Doctor’s Despair

Moral injury, patient behavior, leadership behavior, opioid crisis

PART VIII Addiction

25. Road to Recovery

Addiction, guilt and shame, accountability, recovery

26. Practicing Medicine in the Grasp of Addiction

Addiction, suicide attempt, accountability, recklessness, recovery

Editorial Reviews

Conversations with colleagues characterized by candor and vulnerability lay the foundation for trust-filled and supportive peer connections. These thoughtful, powerful, and authentic real-life stories can serve as the foundation for enduring resilience, healing, and culture change. This will make a difference for the good.”

Stephen Swensen, MD, author of Mayo Clinic Strategies to Reduce Burnout: 12 Actions to Create the Ideal Workplac, former director of Leadership and Organization Development, Mayo Clinic, professor emeritus, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science

“Much more than wellness lectures, pizza parties, or research reports, stories have a unique way of helping us feel seen and less alone. This is particularly needed in healthcare, where we look around and think everyone else is 'fine' because of a culture of stigma and silence. This book is not only grounded in our narratives, but it also helps teach through them, and that combination is unique and needed.”

Jessi Gold, MD, MS, chief wellness officer of the University of Tennessee System and author of How Do You Feel?

“This book is an extraordinarily moving compilation of stories told by courageous, caring and very human physicians. Accounts of struggle, growth and resilience illuminate the complex inner lives of doctors as they navigate work, family, health and personal challenges. The facilitator guide offers a practical roadmap for using these stories to build community and connection through discussion groups and workshops. I highly recommend this book to physicians, to those who work with or care about physicians, and to anyone seeking to better understand the complex experience of people working in health care today.”

Susannah Rowe, MD, MPH, FACS, associate chief medical officer for Wellness and Professional Vitality, Boston Medical Center

“Stories frame our experience. They also inform our personal and collective journeys of healing and wellbeing. This book’s collection of authentic narratives is a vital resource for all physicians, whether in training or in practice.”

Mark F. Carroll, MD, FAAP, chief medical officer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona Medicaid Plans

“A highly valuable set of deeply raw, humbling and relatable narratives of life as a physician. These important stories with prompts will help medical trainees and physicians at any stage reflect on their lives, systems of care, and ways to mitigate suffering and improve wellness.”

Sallie G. De Golia, MD, MPH, training director, Adult Psychiatry Residency Program, Stanford University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

“Physician Wellness and Resilience: Narrative Prompts to Address Burnout is a valuable and original contribution to the literature on physician well-being. The stories told are honest, moving, and relatable. I will find tremendous comfort in reading and discussing these narratives with my colleagues and my students.”

Liz Lawrence, MD, director, Annual Taos Writing and Wellness Retreat for Health Care Professionals, former chief wellness officer and assistant dean for Professional Well-being, University of New Mexico School of Medicine

“Experience a profound journey through the poignant narratives shared in Physician Wellness and Resilience: Narrative Prompts to Address Burnout. With unflinching honesty, doctors from diverse backgrounds unveil their personal trials, offering invaluable insights and prompting reflection. This book not only nurtures self-care and peer connections but also serves as a valuable resource to reflect on one’s well-being and personal resilience.”

Jennifer Berliner, MD, MBA, director, Physician Well-Being, UPMC Health System

“As an executive storytelling coach, I firsthand know the transformative power of stories. This book has taken that to heart; it is filled with gripping, moving, and inspiring stories that shine a new light on the lived experiences of some doctors. This is not just a book for doctors or those in health professions, this is a book for anyone wanting to understand, experience, and live through the lives of others. I cannot recommend it enough!”

Anca Castillo, Co-CEO of DesignConvo LLC

From the Publisher