We know physician burnout is not because physicians lack resilience.
You are way more resilient than the average bear. Here's how we know ...
You survived med school and residency!
You are Still Here !
I use the word "survive" in that sentence very deliberately. If you look at the experience of Medical School and Residency from a pure energy perspective - think "The Force" in the Star Wars movies - your medical education was an exercise in SURVIVAL at that level.
Sure you learned a whole new vocabulary, a problem focused diagnostic skill set and how to recognize and treat most of the diseases in your specialty ... but all of that was predicated on your survival.
And medical education is the energetic equivalent of waterboarding. We are all deliberately pushed beyond our limits - until your energy levels are way below zero. If you falter, you are let go.
The programming we absorb in our education is one of the main reasons doctors burn out so often in the first place.
And this has nothing to do with resilience.
Related:
Physician Resilience – a Stronger Canary is Never Enough
All doctors are resilient ... and now we have the research to prove it.
A new study from JAMA
"Resilience and Burnout Among Physicians and the General US Working Population"Here is The Link and a full PDF is available.
5445 doctors answered the surveys.
FINDINGS:
(italics and bullets are mine)
- "The findings of this national survey study suggest that physicians exhibited higher levels of resilience than the general working population in the US. "
- "Resilience was inversely associated with burnout symptoms, but burnout rates were substantial even among the most resilient physicians."
- "Additional solutions, including efforts to address system issues in the clinical care environment, are needed to reduce burnout and promote physician well-being."
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Related:
How to Prevent Physician Burnout as Simply as Possible
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PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT:
Your thoughts on the origins of physician burnout -- the resilience of physicians vs. an ineffective system and unsupportive culture?