From Auugghh T0 AHHH Personal Life Management

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From Auugghh! T0 AHHHPersonal Life Management

• Susan Fair
• BN. MD. CCFP. FCFP.

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Dr. William Osler, 1899

• Engrossed late and soon in professional cares,
  you may so lay waste that you may find, too late,
  with hearts given way, that there is no place in
  your habit stricken souls for those gentler
  influences which make life worth living

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Objectives

• Factors Leading to Stress in Physicians
• How to Recognize Burnout
• Steps to maintain a healthy balance between our
  professional and private lives.

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Stressors Unique to Medicine

• Training
• Unrealistic expectations
• Unhealthy Workplaces
• On-call
• Potential Liability
• Stigma
• Groups at risk

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Training

• Competition
• Delayed Gratification
• Debt
• Sleep deprivation
• Minimal control

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Unrealistic Expectations

• Set bar too high
• Expect to do it all
• Highly informed or misinformed patients

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Unhealthy WorkplacesCMA 2001 PRQ

• 64 workload too heavy
• 58 family and personal life has suffered because
  they chose medicine
• 57 patients expectations unreasonably high
• 29 on call too often
• 33 lack of locums
• 64 resources for patients difficult
• 46 opportunities to change speciality limited

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On Call

• PRQ 1999 -36 stressful or highly stressful
• PRQ 2001 -29 too onerous
• Average 2-5 hours of sleep per call night

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Potential Liability

• Did I make an error?
• Is there a complaint about my care?

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Stigma

• Delay seeking help
• Self medication

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Groups at Risk

• Medical students
• Residents and interns
• Women in Medicine
• Rural Physicians
• Minority group physicians
• Physicians with disabilities
• Physicians families

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Burnout

• Not a psychiatric diagnosis
• Emotional exhaustion
• Cynicism
• Perceived clinical ineffectiveness
• Sense of depersonalization in relationships with
  co-workers, patients or both

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Maintaining Balance

• Doctors need to learn to say no and not feel
  guilty.

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Maintaining Balance

• Take Care of yourself
• Get a doctor, doctor!
• Get connected
• Managing stress
• Negotiated settlements

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Take care of yourself

• Eat right
• Limit alcohol and caffeine
• Exercise
• Rest and sleep
• Time for yourself

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Get a doctor, doctor!

• 45 of Canadian physicians have a personal
  physician.
• 80 worked while ill the previous year.
• Do not self prescribe!
• Avoid random hallway consultations.

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Get Connected

• Start at home.
• Make time for friends.

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Managing Stress

• Recognize symptoms
• Look at your lifestyle
• Relaxation techniques
• Exercise
• Time management

• Give in occasionally
• Dont try to be perfect
• Ease up on criticism of others
• Dont be too competitive
• Have fun! Laugh!

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Acknowledgements

• CMA Centre for Physician Health and
  Well-Being-Canadian Physicians Health Network
• Dr. Mamta Gautam