Burnout Symptoms in Physicians are Different in Men and Women

Over the last twenty years multiple studies have shown and average of 1 in 3 physicians suffer burnout symptoms on any given office day. This prevalence of burnout symptoms has been a constant of modern healthcare delivery regardless of specialty and in numerous countries around the world.

Tags: Physician Burnout, physician burnout treatment, Physician Coaching, physician stress, physician burnout symptoms

Medical Career Overwhelm?
Here’s Step #1 to Take Your Life Back

When it comes to Having A Life
You have a Blind Spot

The funny thing about blind spots is you don’t know you have them … that is why they are called “Blind Spots”. This one is shared by virtually 100% of the physicians I have met … and many others who have chosen a medical career. This particular blind spot is a direct result of the conditioning of medical school and residency.

As a result of this blind spot …You don’t know where you are going
And you aren’t the one driving the bus
[...who is that clown anyway?]

Tags: Dike Drummond MD, Physician Burnout, Physician Coaching, physician stress

Physician Burnout: Are YOU in the Danger Zone and What You Can DO about it.

In this article let me show you three key concepts:

• A way to understand the difference between stress and burnout
• A method to see if you are at risk for - or suffering from - physician burnout
• Three distinct methods to reverse and prevent physician burnout.

In my work with physician burnout and stress … I have come to the conclusion that our current Healthcare “System” (I use that term VERY loosely) is TOXIC to the Workers. There are exceptions to this trend … an occasional group or practice that believes in and supports physician wellness … and these are the classic “exception that prove the rule”.

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

Tags: physician burnout prevention, Physician Burnout, physician stress, physician burnout symptoms

Energy Vampires and Physician Burnout – stop the downward spiral

I recently heard that term for the first time on a popular online Physician Website. Energy Vampires are those patients (you know the ones) who seems to suck your life energy away every time you are near them.

Tags: physician wellness, Physician Burnout, Physician Coaching, physician stress

Physician Burnout is CRAZY sometimes

Here’s a common definition of crazy behavior:

Crazy is …

Doing the same thing over and over again
and expecting a different result.

Tags: Physician Burnout, physician burnout treatment, physician stress, physician burnout symptoms

Medical Malpractice Myths … another one bites the dust.

Apparently there is a widely held belief amongst physicians of a connection between income and malpractice risk.

Turns out the idea that poor patients are more likely to sue their doctors is nothing more than a myth, according to report published in the Friday online edition of Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research.

Here is an excerpt from the Abstract

Tags: Physician Burnout, physician stress

Worst Medical Technology Dangers – Here’s Your Dirty Dozen

Medscape Today has published its list of the “12 Worst Medical Technology Dangers”. Looking at the list … it would be more accurately described as a list of error prone systems within healthcare. Each of these technologies work magnificently, until we throw humans into the mix … or fail to put systems into place to address the known medical error risks.

Tags: physician stress

Physician Burnout – Gender Differences in Burnout Symptoms.

Numerous studies have shown that an average of 1 in 3 practicing physicians are suffering from symptomatic physician burnout on any given office day … worldwide, regardless of specialty.

The three classic signs and symptoms of physician burnout are measured by a standardized evaluation; the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). They are:

1) Emotional Exhaustion

The doctor is tapped out after the office day, hospital rounds or being on call and is unable to recover with time off. Over time their energy level begins to follow a downward spiral.

2) “Depersonalization”

This shows up as cynicism or a negative, callous, excessively detached response to their job duties. Often burned out doctors will begin to blame and complain about their patients and their problems.

3) “Reduced Accomplishment”

Here physician burnout has the doctor start to question whether they are offering quality care and whether what they do really matters at all.

As more female doctors move into the workforce, researchers are beginning to notice differences in the way physician burnout presents in men and women.

If you think for a moment about the three scales of the MBI, you will probably be able to imagine the differences. Here is what groundbreaking physician burnout research published in 2011 is showing.

Tags: physician burnout treatment, Physician Coaching, physician stress, physician burnout symptoms

Physician Bullying is a surprisingly large issue especially for medical students and recent residency graduates according to an article I just found on BMJ Careers’ website. This is a well written article with an 8 article bibliography summarizing research on Physician Bullying. They even document the following physician bullying types.

Types of physician bullying

• Spreading malicious rumours or insulting someone (particularly on the grounds of age, race, sex, disability, sexual orientation, and religion or belief)
• Copying memos that are critical of someone to others who do not need to know
• Ridiculing or demeaning someone—picking on them or setting them up to fail
• Exclusion or victimisation
• Unfair treatment
• Overbearing supervision or other misuse of power or position
• Unwelcome sexual advances—touching, standing too close, display of offensive material, asking for sexual favours, making decisions on the basis of sexual advances being accepted or rejected
• Making threats or comments about job security without foundation
• Deliberately undermining a competent worker by overloading and constant criticism
• Preventing individuals progressing by intentionally blocking promotion or training opportunities

Here’s a link to the full article and thank you to Lorna Powell, the article’s author for putting this issue on my radar.

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PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT:
Have you ever been bullied?
If so, what happened and is it any one of the physician bullying types mentioned above?

 

Tags: Physician Burnout, physician stress, physician bullying

Here is a great article from the Harvard Business Journal by Tony Schwartz about how to take your busy life back.

 

Tags: Physician Burnout, physician stress