In our work with physician leaders from 175 organizations to date, it has become clear that physician leadership and physician burnout share five distinct and invisible connections.

No one talks about these risk factors - even in MBA training - so we have started calling them "Dirty Little Secrets".

If you are a physician leader - and don't have the tools to recognize and avoid these burnout connections .- you will struggle.

The Medical Education Process Drives Each of Us to an ALL-IN Relationship With Our Career - for better and for worse.

This exclusive career focus is one of the primary causes of burnout - especially for employee physicians - and is often not healthy for you and your family.

• If you look to the modern practice of medicine as the single source for all the money, meaning and purpose in your life as a default setting
• And if this singular focus is resulting in stress, frustration, despair, fantasies of quitting medicine altogether or retiring early

There are other choices available that would be healthier for you and your family. When we are coaching over-stressed physicians, making a conscious choice on your relationship with your practice of medicine is one of the most common mindset changes we teach and can be a true career saving move for a doctor teetering on the edge of burnout.

In this episode of the Physicians On Purpose Podcast we discuss the options available and how to make the mindset shift that will make all the difference. 

You can decide just what you rely on your practice for - in the context of your larger life.

Options include:

• ALL-IN
• TERRARIUM
• BRIDGE
• SIDE GIG
• TRANSITION
• NON-MEDICAL CAREER

We call it the SINE WAVE DELUSION and it goes like this:

• Your organization lost money in the last year because of lower patient visit and surgery volumes due to COVID-19. It was a Pandemic Profit Crater.
  
  
• The leadership team cut your support staff in an effort to cut expenses/save money. Keep the ship afloat, weather the storm was the thinking. Mission accomplished, you are still here.
  
  
• Now they expect you to make up the income shortfall by producing higher patient visit volumes and RVU's than ever before, without giving you back the support staff to hit those production targets. Just Spin that Gerbil Wheel Faster! If you can see even more patients with lower staff expense, we will be able to make up last years losses. Come on, you are a team player aren't you?
  
  
• And now doctors are quitting. Burned out and bloodied, many labeled as disruptive. It is the healthiest thing to do for you and your family in many cases.
  
  
• You haven't quit yet - and the thought of abandoning your patients, staff and colleagues keeps you rooted to your current practice, despite these lunatic work expectations.

I am a big, old, straight, American cis male physician, showered in white privilege and given a free pass in the realm of bias and discrimination. 

I have coached hundreds of burned out physicians over the last 12 years. Our conversations are intimate and authentic for a simple reason; there is no change without first telling the truth.

Whenever one of my coaching clients varies from my personal characteristics - in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, native language, sexual orientation or any other variable - we both know that bias and discrimination play some role in their burnout. They tell me the truth of what is going on. I tell them when I see subtle and obvious bias and discrimination from my position of privilege.

[I freely acknowledge I did not earn this position. It is only a reflection of the random combination of chromosomes that looks back at me from the mirror in the morning. As a coach it offers me the equivalent of a Litmus Test: I ask, "if it was me instead of my client in this situation, would I be treated the same way?" If the answer is NO, bias and discrimination is in play.]

For these physicians, each week contains a subset of words and deeds that hurt. The aggressors may be patients, staff, the general population or even leaders and physician colleagues.

• Some hurt on purpose with looks, language and actions used deliberately to wound the physician as a human being.
• Others are unconsciously woven into the fabric of our society and the healthcare system itself. 

TWO (obvious) QUESTIONS:

1) Just how often do physicians who are not white and not cis males experience these feelings of bias and discrimination in the course of their work life?

2) Is the frequency of these "microaggressions" associated with burnout in these doctors?

A recent study answers both.

• 94% experienced sexist microaggressions
• 81% experienced racist microaggressions
• Each and both were linked to the physician's burnout risk

Let me show you why these results (which might seem shocking to you) are what I consider to be a best case scenario.

And ... let me ask you if this strikes you as important new information or an obvious "DUH of the Day"?

Just how do you begin a conversation with your senior leadership team about building out a Corporate Physician Wellness Strategy?

What is the best way to bring up the staggering costs of physician burnout and the benefits of a corporate physician wellness strategy -- if your senior leaders are not already engaged in this dialog?

We have supported hundreds of doctors around the world who act as physician wellbeing insurgents in their organization - working hard to get the attention of the C-Suite on the need for a burnout prevention strategy at the level of the organization. 

Learn from our 10 years and over 175 organization experience in these critically important discussions. 

In Physicians On Purpose (POP) Podcast #18...

• Learn how to start the conversation on a level playing field of shared understanding.
• Learn the 3 competitive advantages of physician wellbeing.
• Learn where to get backup and support on HOW to get started on your organizations strategy.

Talking With Senior Leaders about a Corporate Physician Wellness Strategy

No doctor should hesitate to participate in a Physician Wellness Program because of the risk of discoverability and judgement down the road.

• What if the state medical board finds out?
• What if my specialty society or the insurance companies that are our payors find out?

These should never be questions you worry about before you reach out for support.  With burnout rates of 40%+ and over 400 physician suicides a year in the USA alone, we must do all we can to remove barriers to doctors asking for and receiving support in their time of need.

Legislation to provide immunity to Wellness Program participants is an important piece of this effort.

Unfortunately, here in the USA, we are a nation of states. This immunity from discoverability will have to come via state laws.

Good News ...
there appears to be an immunity support wave building in state legislatures around the country. It is still early and now the count is three!

Patient Satisfaction should NEVER be 100%

Patient Satisfaction - or the "Patient Experience" is a key quality indicator for organizations and a potential bonus point for the individual physician.

Stop Physician Burnout: One step to more of what you really want in your practice.

Desire is an interesting and disempowering emotion. When you really, really, really want things to be different and you wake up the next day -- and it is exactly the same as yesterday -- well that is just disappointing to say the least.

If your practice is not what you dreamed it would be ... that difference between desire and reality can be a major source of stress and burnout. 

And yet there is great power in desire/longing/dreams and vision when you have a clear target and the skills to move in that direction. This is what got you through Medical School and Residency - a clear finish line and a way to get there.

You are out in your own practice now. You have the freedom and responsibility to determine what your practice looks like and how it feels ... for you and your family. It is rare that you will find what you seek on someone else's job description.

You will need to change things up to get what you really want in your practice/career/life. This is how you put stress and burnout to its highest and best use.

Physician Burnout's highest and best use

From within the misery of physician burnout it is difficult to see, but there is a purpose to this suffering. Burnout actually has a highest and best use.

When you use your stress and burnout as fuel for transformation -- when you do a good job of burning out, you will look back on this as an important turning point in your life. A turning point for the better.