In her KevinMD.com article entitled “Physician wellness programs are lipstick on a pig” Linda Drozdowicz, MD argues that physician wellness programs are essentially lipstick on a pig, and do not address the underlying issues that lead to burnout. She goes on to state that these programs can act as a form of unintended victim blaming – giving the impression that doctors just need to take better care of themselves to not feel burnout. In this article, we are going to discuss how physician wellness programs are NOT like lipstick on a pig when the right conditions and commitments from stakeholders are met.
Physician Wellness Requires the Right Tools
Dr. Drozdowicz brings up some salient points about the state of the healthcare system and how it is set up to lead doctors down the path to burnout. However, I would like for her and others to consider that physician wellness programs can be effective when deployed correctly and when victim blaming is avoided.
Physician wellness efforts are not inherently bad. They tend to be ineffective when they don’t have adequate funding or are seemingly intended to just check a box. They work best if certain conditions are in place. These include:
- Education and Resources – Education designed to raise awareness and offer next steps is a great start. No program provides a magic elixir. Let’s offer helpful resources without shame and blame. Since we all view wellness a little differently, we can expect that a successful wellness program will have a menu of items from which to select.
- Leadership AND Grassroots Support and Input – It is critical to have leadership active in the conversation, AND active input from the players most directly impacted. Dialogue isn’t nearly enough – those directly involved in patient care need to feel like their voices are being heard in the actions taken by the leadership.
- Financial and Administrative Investment – Healthcare is not free, and neither is the care of healthcare professionals. What is invested upfront in our well-being will be paid back in multiple ways, including improved patient safety, outcomes, and satisfaction, as well as lower litigation risk, physician turnover, and dissatisfaction.
- Effort to Control the Causes of Stress and Frustration – There’s no doubt about what is frustrating physicians most – everything in the system that isn’t directly about patient care! Let’s make REAL efforts to minimize the impact of these causes – like EHR and paperwork – and we’ll start to see our environment improve.
With these conditions in place, wellness programs can go a long way to preventing burnout and encouraging healthy lives for physicians both at work and at home.
Awareness Resources
If you are interested in more physician wellness resources, SurgeonMasters has you covered. We regularly post blogs, podcasts, and webinars with helpful tips on how to prevent burnout and sustain a thriving surgical career. Interested in 1-on-1 coaching, or coach training?
Reach out to [email protected] to learn more.
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