Addressing Stress and Burnout, Achieving Physician Well-Being

Physicians are exposed to higher levels of stress because of the demands of their job. Physician
burnout is should not be met with silence and denial. If not addressed in the right manner, this
can be detrimental not only on the physician but on the entire institutions as well. Professional
burnout can lead to depression, substance abuse, decreased quality of life and in worse cases,
it can cause personal harm to an individual. Physician burnout can be managed on an individual
level, but there are interventions that the organization can do to help out.

Physician wellness should matter highly for institutions and organizations. It matters for the
physicians having this experience and it also matters to their patients who are on the receiving
end of their care.

Different People Have Different Stressors

First and foremost, physicians are also humans having their own personalities and
characteristics that make them unique. They have differing levels of empathy, self-criticism, and
self-care. Professionals and medical students also have different coping strategies of denial and
avoidance which can lead to poor mental health. In some cases, symptoms of stress and
burnouts start in medical training. Once they enter an institution to practice, the high demands
and overloading come with more stress and potential burnouts.

Main stressors that physicians point out are their strained relationships with senior doctors,
conflict of professional and personal life, making mistakes and litigation fears. For some
doctors, their time dealing with their patients causes them stress. Physicians losing their sense
of control or loss of meaning is viewed to be related to their cause of stress and burnout.

Mindfulness and Physician Well-Being

There are many ways to address physician stress and burnout and it differs from one individual
to another. Some physicians find that the time spent with their patients gives them meaning in
their work. There are also programs that offer systematic training for physicians to develop
mindfulness and it has been associated with sustained improvements in their well-being and
improved attitudes in patient care.

Each health care institution has their own system and their own set of unique challenges and
stressors. When it comes to dealing with these challenges, there is no tailor-fit solution to
address physician burnout and stress. Health care institutions can instill better cooperation,
communication, performance monitoring and allow staff more discretion at work find better
mental health outcomes