Stop Physician Burnout with this Four-Bucket Corporate Wellness Strategy

Posted by Dike Drummond MD

Let’s cut straight to the chase. Physician burnout isn’t a problem you can solve.

It’s a never-ending balancing act—a dilemma, not a problem. And if you’re trying to fix it - wasting time looking for a one-shot solution, you’re already losing ground.

The only way forward is with a strategy. A sustainable, adaptable approach that addresses burnout at both the personal and organizational levels.

Let me show you our proven, four-part corporate physician wellness strategy that that can be installed in any healthcare organization in a single day. This isn’t theory. This is a battle-tested plan that works, simple enough to sketch on the back of a napkin. Let’s dive in.

Tags: physician wellness, Physician Burnout, Burnout prevention strategy

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Boomer Doctor Retirement CLIFF + AI will either focus the industry on wellness or crush us all

Posted by Dike Drummond MD

The boomer doctor retirement cliff will decimate the US physician Workforce between now and 2030.

Learn what to watch out for - and what you must start doing now - to implement a Physician Wellness Strategy while there's still time

Watch these short outtakes from our recent Wellness Champion Summit Webinar

1) What is the Boomer Doc retirement cliff? Is it really that bad? Does AI at the same time make things better or worse?

Tags: physician wellness, Physician Burnout, physician workforce, physician shortage, physician retirement, Boomer doctor retirement cliff, AI Notewriting software for doctors, corporate physician wellness strategy

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Physician Leadership: a Simple Communication Tool to Avoid the Disruptive Doctor Label

Posted by Dike Drummond MD

Physician Leadership:
A Simple Communication Tool to Avoid the Disruptive Doctor Label
(video training)

If you invite physicians into your management or leadership meetings, we will diagnose the problems in the system of care with the same speed and skill we diagnose disease in our patients.

Sooner or later we will also run into any number of situations that qualify as hypocrisy: where the organization says one thing and does something completely different.

Nothing in this world upsets a physician more than hypocrisy. 

We see it right away, like a flashing red light. It drives us to shout, thump tables, foam at the lips and more. This undisciplined behavior results in many doctors being labeled a "disruptive physician" and their completely legitimate concerns downplayed or ignored by the other senior leaders at the table. This outright dismissal of legitimate concerns can be a major cause of physician burnout for some doctors.

Here is a Simple Communication Tool to Completely Avoid Being Labeled Disruptive and get your concerns addressed.

Tags: Physician Burnout, Physician Leadership, disruptive physician toolkit

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Stop Physician Burnout - 4 steps to build a Better Day Off

Posted by Dike Drummond MD

How many times have you looked forward to a day off work - a nirvana of rest, relaxation, recuperation, leisure, pleasure and la dolce vita?

And instead you ended up just powering through the list of busy work around the house you've been saving up for weeks ...

Catch up on the laundry, clean the house, balance the checkbook, do your taxes, hit the grocery store, mow your lawn, get a haircut ... and fall into a heap at the end of the day feeling no less rested than when you left work yesterday.

That's a crappy day off

Actually it is not a day off at all. It is just another day on a different punch list. It's another day on a different hamster wheel.  And it does not have to be that way.

Here are four steps to transform your days off from catch-up marathons or a haze of simple recuperation -  to true life balance. 

 

Get the Tools and Support to Take Back Your Practice NOW
JOIN US in the BurnoutProofMD 3-Layer Physician Support ECOSYSTEM
Our 5 Top Video Trainings, 2 Hours of Weekly Drop-In Group Coaching, 100 CME Credits
AND the full support of a tribe of like-minded physicians - all of us on the same journey.
Learn More and Start Your 30-Day Completely FREE TRIAL

 

FOUR STEPS TO A QUALITY DAY OFF

Tags: Physician Burnout, Work Life Balance

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Physician Resilience – a Stronger Canary is Never Enough

Posted by Dike Drummond MD

Physician Resilience – a stronger canary is never enough

In my work with thousands of over-stressed physicians and over 175 healthcare organizations, I have learned one lesson over and over -

Resilience training alone is not sufficient to rein in the epidemic of physician burnout.

If you believe like I do that physicians are the canary in the coal mine of medicine.

Then it is clear the epidemic of physician burnout is an indictment of the conditions of the mine, not the resilience of the canary.

Tags: Physician Burnout, physician resilience

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Physician Burnout - how did Einstein get to be such an expert?

Posted by Dike Drummond MD

How did Einstein get to be a physician burnout expert?

If you want to lower your stress levels, build a more balanced life and an more Ideal Practice, remember these two quotes from Albert Einstein and there is literally nothing you can't change.

Physician's Top 3 Work-Life Balance Shortcuts
FREE Online Video Training >> Lessons from our 40,000 doctor experience
5 CME Credits - Short Online Video Lessons
Tools for Daily, Weekly and Monthly Balance



Einstein Quote #1:

"The definition of insanity is -- doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result."

Here is another way to say the same thing: If you always do what you've always done -- you will always get what you've always got.

"The only way to change anything in your life is to take new actions."

Yes it is that simple.

    • Stop venting.
    • Decide what you really want.
    • Take a baby step in that direction.
    • Repeat.

Thank you Albert!

Tags: Physician Burnout

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Stop Physician Burnout - how to reach out to a colleague in distress

Posted by Dike Drummond MD

Physician Burnout - how to reach out to a colleague in distress - [VIDEO TRAINING]

If you could save someone's life in a two minute conversation, would you speak up?

The situation I am talking about isn't even really a conversation most of the time. It is just you, caring enough to ask a question. If all it took was a question to save a person's life, would you ask it?

Would you ask even if it feels awkward, takes what feels like courage, might make them uncomfortable and you are not sure what to do if they reach back to you for support?

Tags: Physician Burnout

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Stop Physician Burnout - What to do when a patient says thank you

Posted by Dike Drummond MD

To prevent physician burnout, you must manage your three internal Energy Banks

A Thank You from a patient or family member can top up all three accounts, but ONLY if you know what to do and say in that moment.

"Thank You" is like rocket fuel because it provides an instant infusion of Spiritual Energy, reconnecting you with the purpose in your practice.

Unfortunately, most doctors deflect thank yous and miss this golden opportunity to prevent burnout.

This is another lesson we never received in Med School, Residency or Fellowship - How to RECIEVE a Thank You with Elegance and Grace.

NOTE:
This is Part 3 of 3 in our Series on Physician Energy Management. Here are the first two:
Part 1 - Physician energy has nothing to do with batteries being run down
Part 2 - Physician's 3 Energy Banks


Physician's Top 3 Work-Life Balance Shortcuts
FREE Online Video Training >> Lessons from our 40,000 doctor experience
5 CME Credits - Short Online Video Lessons
Tools for Daily, Weekly and Monthly Balance
 

 

The Thank You Connection to Spirit

Spirit in your practice is your connection to PURPOSE. You must have reminders you are making a difference and serving a purpose regularly or your Spiritual Energy Bank becomes drained. At that point, the little voice in your head might start whispering, "What's the use."

That little voice phrase, "What's the use. I'm really not making a difference or serving a purpose here," is actually the third symptom of burnout.

Here's how I discovered the Thank You connection to Spirit.

It was by accident, early in my physician coaching practice. I was looking for a way to help doctors remember what they enjoy about seeing patients

I asked hundreds of my physician clients:

"Tell me about your last Ideal Patient Visit"

You know the one...

That special interaction, during an otherwise busy day, that lights you up. Where, at the end of the day, you said to yourself,

"oh yeah, that's why I became a doctor in the first place," with a little fist pump.

Or when you get home, you say, "Honey, sit down, I have to tell you what happened at work today."

About ten doctors into this inquiry, a pattern began to emerge that has held true to this day - across hundreds of doctors. 

97% of the time that feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment comes from two words the patient, or a family member, said to you.

Tags: Physician Burnout, physician patient communication

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Physician Burnout has nothing to do with your batteries being run down

Posted by Dike Drummond MD

The Battery Fallacy is one of the great myths of Physician Burnout. 

Until you understand how energy works inside the physiology of a doctor, you can't begin to protect yourself from burnout.

The Battery Fallacy

When I deliver a training at a Med Staff Meeting, I always ask, "Raise your hand if you have ever said, 'My batteries are run down, I just need a recharge'. All the hands go up. 

The batteries-run-down is the most common metaphor for burnout and it is TOTALLY INACCURATE.

The Battery Theory of physician energy management is a myth, a fallacy.

It is a blind spot.

It is a barrier to recognizing and preventing physician burnout. 

Our work with over 40,000 doctors in the last 12 years has revealed a working model of physician energy that provides:

An accurate representation of energy balance in doctors

The energetic source of the symptoms of burnout 

Burnout treatment and prevention mechanisms you can put into place today

Tags: Physician Burnout

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Work Life Balance for Physicians Power Tool - Scheduled Spontaneity

Posted by Dike Drummond MD

Work Life Balance for Physicians – the power of “Scheduled Spontaneity”

When it comes to work-life balance for physicians, it's up to you. Left to its own devices, your career/practice will naturally dominate your larger life.

The two prime directives we learn in our medical education:
The Patient Comes First
and Never Show Weakness
virtually guarantee work will always come out on top. 

Work Life Balance is a task only you can accomplish. You must force the issue. Make it happen.

Fortunately the tools for this task are simple and the weekly life balancing process only takes a few minutes.

Tags: physician burnout prevention, Dike Drummond MD, Physician Burnout, Work Life Balance, physician burnout treatment, Physician Coaching

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