Here is a funny, sweet, heartfelt, rhyming Advanced Directive written in the style of Theodor Geisel -- AKA Dr. Seuss
Please invest 5:27 right now in watching this lovely, lovely experience
Please invest 5:27 right now in watching this lovely, lovely experience
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This is Blog Post #283
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Remember that fork in the road?
You could apply to medical school. OR you could do literally anything else.
You looked in the mirror and recognized you were not like a lot of your friends in school.
A LIGHTWORKER:
From that choice point forward, you allied your professional life with the forces of LIGHT in the universe, as we battle specific forces of darkness:
- Illness
- Suffering
- Death and dying
- and family member's crazed attempts to deal with those things.
No matter what stage of your career you are in now, we can agree the choice to become a doctor had a life-long series of unintended consequences. We had only a small understanding of what was in store for us.
In this blog post let me show you
1) A deeper understanding of some of the most difficult aspects of being a doctor
2) And six of our most popular tools to maintain your energy, faith and empathy when things get tough.
Tags: stop physician burnout
READ MORE NOW >>>All doctors - everyone who sees patients for a living - need a solid anchor.
If / when you fall in, you can pull yourself back to shore hand over hand, make it to dry land and catch your breath.
The conversation about physician burnout is often dominated by the term RESILIENCE. We doctors need to be tougher, more elastic, stop complaining.
I ran into an alternate way of looking at this issue via a blog post by Brenda Osieyo
Here is the quote that inspired her and me; about maintaining an anchor and a way back to yourself now that you have chosen the Lightworker's Path - working with sick, hurting, scared, dying patients and their families.
Tags: stop physician burnout, physician resilience
READ MORE NOW >>>Jon Kabat-Zinn and the pioneers at U Mass have proven that physicians who take their eight week meditation and yoga training have superior resilience skills and subsequent studies over the last 40 years have repeatedly confirmed their initial observations.
In reviewing this literature, three big questions come to mind for most doctors.
1) What is mindfulness anyway?
2) Just how does mindfulness cause its therapeutic effect?
3) Is eight weeks of meditation training the ONLY way to be mindful at work?
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Our Evidence-Based, Single-Breath Mindfulness Technique
One Minute Mindfulness Online Training for Physicians
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Let me share my answers to these questions, coming from three different levels of experience:
Tags: Mindfulness, stop physician burnout
READ MORE NOW >>>This was a huge study, over an 11 year time span, showing a powerful dose response curve between hours worked as a physician and depression prevalence. Said another way: too much time spent as a "provider" inside the healthcare delivery system is bad for your mental health.
I deliberately did not write, "too much time seeing patients" in the sentence above, because we both know the "job" of being an intern or a practicing doctor is so much more complicated than just patient care.
This is a massively important fundamental observation for all practicing physicians and for US national healthcare policy.
Let's take a quick dive into the details.
Tags: stop physician burnout
READ MORE NOW >>>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.
Physician's Top 3 Work-Life Balance ShortcutsNOTE:
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
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:
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,
About ten doctors into this inquiry, a pattern began to emerge that has held true to this day - across hundreds of doctors."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."
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
READ MORE NOW >>>In this post you will learn:
These simple principles will supercharge your ability to recognize and prevent your own physician burnout.
Tags: stop physician burnout
READ MORE NOW >>>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
READ MORE NOW >>>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
READ MORE NOW >>>Let's talk about what to do when you finally realize you are on your own, that no one and nothing is coming to rescue you.
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In most burnout blog posts and comments on the internet, physicians do the same thing - blame, justify and complain about the work stresses we are under.
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Learn More:
235 Proven Tools for Your Burnout Prevention Strategy
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The latest survey shows over 60% of doctors suffering from symptomatic burnout on any given office day. New levels of work stress seem to pile on each week. We all daydream of a lifeline, a rescue, a refuge, a break.
It is as if we are locked high in the castle tower, at the mercy of our evil captors - EMR, MOC, Preauths, RVU production quotas, the Call Center is a mess, and my Inbox is overflowing like a plugged toilet. Surely someone has dispatched a knight in shining armor to free us from this torment.
All of these concerns are true and valid AND understand one thing ...
Complaining and dreaming of a rescue is Playing the Victim - Pure and Simple
There is no one and nothing coming to save you
This yearning only distracts you from saving yourself
Let me set a framework for addressing burnout effectively - the straightest path to meaningful change in your work day and your organization.
So you can release the urge to blame, justify and complain,
hear that little voice calling you to take back your practice,
and know how to get started.
Tags: physician burnout prevention, Dike Drummond MD, Physician Burnout, physician stress, Physician Leadership
READ MORE NOW >>>The first Field Manual to a more Ideal Practice - 40,000 copies in print.
Over 235 ways to prevent physician burnout inside.
CLICK HERE to learn more and get your FREE copy
~ Physician Burnout – Why It’s NOT a Fair Fight
~ Physician Burnout Symptoms Differ in Women and Men
~ Physician Burnout's Highest and Best Use
~ Pathophysiology and Treatment of Burnout
~ Physician Wellness - Two Ways to Tell If Your Group Cares
~ Burnout vs. the Bottom Line - the Epic Battle
~ Physician Burnout - Who Will Save Us?
~ 3 Reasons Doctors Make Lousy Leaders and What You Can Do About It
~ Monthly Staff Meeting Power Up and Team Venting process
~ Employed Physician's Guide to Managing Your Boss
~ Disruptive Physician's Toolkit
"I started to feel better about my life within a couple weeks of beginning our conversations. I knew that I had an ally and friend. I realized that my feelings were predictable based on my circumstances, that I was “normal”. For the first time in years I had real hope that things would change for the better.
We worked together to find and interview for a new position in the worst job market for my specialty the recruiters have ever experienced. With Dike’s help and persistent positive attitude, I found a new position at a group that really cares about the doctors and I start in two weeks.
For me, the program has been worth everything. It has enabled me to emerge from my depression, change my toxic work situation, improve my home and family life, and allow myself to be happy and realize that I deserve to be happy.”
~ Anonymous MD
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