--- title: "The Danger Inherent in \"The Patient Comes First\"" description: Our prime directive - the patient comes first - puts us in danger of physician burnout. image: https://www.thehappymd.com/hubfs/DoctorUnderWaterSocial.jpg --- [![Stop-physician-burnout-dike-drummond-physician-leadership-you-can-banner-11-5-2018_opt995W](https://www.thehappymd.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Stop-physician-burnout-dike-drummond-physician-leadership-you-can-banner-11-5-2018_opt995W-1.jpg?width=995&height=146&name=Stop-physician-burnout-dike-drummond-physician-leadership-you-can-banner-11-5-2018_opt995W-1.jpg "Stop-physician-burnout-dike-drummond-physician-leadership-you-can-banner-11-5-2018_opt995W")](https://www.thehappymd.com) ## **The Creative Destruction of Physician Burnout ** [![prevent doctor burnout matrix](https://hubspot-no-cache-na2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/default/263814/da1e787d-095f-4485-9d4d-9a9bc4195d86.png)](https://hubspot-cta-redirect-na2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/redirect/263814/da1e787d-095f-4485-9d4d-9a9bc4195d86) # [The Danger Inherent in "The Patient Comes First"](https://www.thehappymd.com/blog/the-danger-inherent-in-the-patient-comes-first) Posted by [Dike Drummond MD](https://www.thehappymd.com/blog/author/dike-drummond-md) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) ## The primary risk to all Lightworkers is built into our first Prime Directive. **Healthcare's Prime Directive #1:** ***The patient comes first*** **In this blog post:** - Let me show you the nature of this fundamental risk - The toll it takes on all healthcare workers - An image that *captures this dynamic in a way you won't forget* - And a tool to recharge we have proven effective in our physician coaching practice. **You chose to be a helper, a healer, a *Lightworker*.** This creates a pecking order when it comes to your personal energy, your life force. If *the patient comes first*, where do you fit in? This programming is so powerful you may feel guilty for *even thinking about* your own self care; your own need for sleep, time off, food, even a bathroom break.  **In the act of helping we can (and often do) overextend ourselves.** Then that role of helper and healer can push you into burnout. With physician burnout rates between 40 - 50% prior to the pandemic, we know this built-in risk is huge. **The image below expresses this *energy reality* better than any I have ever seen.** I have tried to find the artist so I can reference them. If you know who it is, please tell me in the comments below. All I have is this screen grab. It is *the perfect illustration of this tilted playing field.* **If the patient wins and the physician/nurse/healthcare worker loses ... *we all lose*. There has to be a way to restore balance to the force - *your life force*.** **And in the overwhelm of the pandemic, conditions can arise that make this rebalancing impossible. ** ![DoctorUnderWaterCROPPED](https://www.thehappymd.com/hs-fs/hubfs/images/2020%20IMAGES/2020%20SOCIAL%20MEDIA%20IMAGES/DoctorUnderWaterCROPPED.jpg?width=400&name=DoctorUnderWaterCROPPED.jpg) *IMAGE UPDATE*: Thank you to Leila and Kim (see the comments) [here is the artists' Facebook page about this image](https://www.facebook.com/BoziCartoon.Fans/photos/a.214509315227984/3915419595136919): Bozorgmehr Hosseinpour (born in 1976) is an Iranian cartoonist. Head over there and like his page please. ============ **You must find *your own off switch* on this programming or burnout is inevitable:** - When you are with the patient, the patient comes first - When you are not with the patient, we must each have an off switch and a solid, healthy boundary on that same program, so we can recover before stepping back in the game. > **Here is our Boundary Ritual Training** so you can come all the way home and start your recharge. (6:59) > > **Get ready to take a few notes and pick your personal *Boundary Ritual*** > > > > > > > >   ** The Boundary Ritual is just one of the trainings in our  Burnout Proof MD Physician Support Ecosystem** - Access to our 5 Top Trainings - 2 hours of group coaching every week - And our private, physician-only support community [**Learn More and Join us in *Burnout Proof MD***](https://support.thehappymd.com/bpmd-thmd-webinar-sign-up) [***![BPMD Promo 3-3-3 Cover 2-1](https://www.thehappymd.com/hs-fs/hubfs/BPMD%20Promo%203-3-3%20Cover%202-1.jpg?width=400&height=209&name=BPMD%20Promo%203-3-3%20Cover%202-1.jpg)***](https://support.thehappymd.com/bpmd-thmd-webinar-sign-up)   **~~~~~~~~~~** ** PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT** - How is your energy level lately? - Are you under water at this point? - What is your Boundary Ritual? Tags: [stop physician burnout](https://www.thehappymd.com/blog/topic/stop-physician-burnout), [Covid19](https://www.thehappymd.com/blog/topic/covid19) - [Home ](https://www.thehappymd.com) - [Blog ](https://www.thehappymd.com/blog) - [About](https://www.thehappymd.com/about-the-happy-md)   - [ Contact ](https://www.thehappymd.com/contact) - |  - [Republish Articles](https://www.thehappymd.com/the-happy-md-content-network-signup-r)   || [Privacy Policy](https://www.thehappymd.com/privacy-policy) | [Terms of Use](https://www.thehappymd.com/terms-of-use) | [Anti-Spam Policy](https://www.thehappymd.com/anti-spam-policy) ||   **© TheHappyMD.com all rights reserved** ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Dike Drummond MD", "url" : "https://www.thehappymd.com/blog/author/dike-drummond-md" }, "dateModified" : "2023-01-13T01:34:00.392Z", "datePublished" : "2020-12-01T21:12:57.000Z", "headline" : "The Danger Inherent in \"The Patient Comes First\"", "image" : [ "https://www.thehappymd.com/hubfs/DoctorUnderWaterSocial.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://www.thehappymd.com/blog/the-danger-inherent-in-the-patient-comes-first", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://www.thehappymd.com/hubfs/Stop-physician-burnout-dike-drummond-physician-leadership-you-can-banner-11-5-2018_opt995W.jpg" }, "name" : "The Happy MD" } } ```