Be The Guy, not That Guy...
We see that guy every morning when we walk into, or out of the hospital. The clinician who looks 20 years older then he really is, shuffling about, staring straight ahead, almost grimacing. When you say "Good Morning", he just looks the other way. He's the guys who has been here way too long, falling way too far down the rabbit hole of burn out.
Let's face it, none of us ever want to become that guy. But on our worst days, many of us already have been. Myself for sure. Medicine is a tough game of paradoxes - exhilarating, exhausting, rewarding, and always demanding.
So how do we instead become the guy? The clinician people gravitate towards at the start of the day, when help is needed to meet a new challenge, and at the end to review the day's success. In Academic Medicine Slavin describes Positive Psychology's PERMA model to preventing burnout in Medical Education.
Positive emotions: Foster positive emotions by reducing unnecessary stressors and promoting resilience. A motivated student is a huge help and a reminder of our calling. Six students waiting to report to you is a waste of everyone's time, most importantly the patient's. Encourage near peer instruction by having a subset of junior trainees to report instead to more senior trainees who will benefit from the teaching experience. Provide time for self reflection, voicing of concerns, and closure before the next challenge through a policy of debriefing after all difficult cases.
Engagement: Seek opportunities to engage fully in your work and empathize with your patients and staff. When the paperwork and politics gets to be too much, then get back to the bedside. Talk to your patients and their families. Find a personal connection. Engage your colleagues and consultants be always speaking in terms of our patient. Enter into the zone and the day ends before you know it.
Relationships: Provide networking programs to develop rewarding interdisciplinary relationships. On a committee, or teaching a conference with a clinician you really respect? Then make the effort to connect on other projects as well. The insight provided from new friends often can not be found in your isolated end of the office hallway.
Meaning: Connect with the purpose of your daily work through the eyes of your patient and history. Stop for a moment and reflect on why you became a clinician. For many of us, through life's suffering, we were called to serve others in their time of greatest need. Have two books in your nightstand, Doctors: The Biography of Medicine, and On Doctoring. Read either when a difficult day will not let you rest.
Achievement: Help create a culture that celebrates both the small and large victories. Practice the 6:1 Rule of Genuine Praise to Constructive Criticism. Pat people on the back for small victories such as taking an extra moment to clarify once again the follow up. Don't wait until the end of the year to prepare your faculty profile for the year for your chairman's annual review. Instead, keep a running template that you add to each week as the big victories trickle in. Send the email announcing your colleagues new article to the the department, tweet the article to your community.
Be The Guy - Make it a Great Week!
Slavin. PERMA: A model for institutional leadership and culture change. Academic Medicine 2012. 23111270.
Let's face it, none of us ever want to become that guy. But on our worst days, many of us already have been. Myself for sure. Medicine is a tough game of paradoxes - exhilarating, exhausting, rewarding, and always demanding.
So how do we instead become the guy? The clinician people gravitate towards at the start of the day, when help is needed to meet a new challenge, and at the end to review the day's success. In Academic Medicine Slavin describes Positive Psychology's PERMA model to preventing burnout in Medical Education.
Positive emotions: Foster positive emotions by reducing unnecessary stressors and promoting resilience. A motivated student is a huge help and a reminder of our calling. Six students waiting to report to you is a waste of everyone's time, most importantly the patient's. Encourage near peer instruction by having a subset of junior trainees to report instead to more senior trainees who will benefit from the teaching experience. Provide time for self reflection, voicing of concerns, and closure before the next challenge through a policy of debriefing after all difficult cases.
Engagement: Seek opportunities to engage fully in your work and empathize with your patients and staff. When the paperwork and politics gets to be too much, then get back to the bedside. Talk to your patients and their families. Find a personal connection. Engage your colleagues and consultants be always speaking in terms of our patient. Enter into the zone and the day ends before you know it.
Relationships: Provide networking programs to develop rewarding interdisciplinary relationships. On a committee, or teaching a conference with a clinician you really respect? Then make the effort to connect on other projects as well. The insight provided from new friends often can not be found in your isolated end of the office hallway.
Meaning: Connect with the purpose of your daily work through the eyes of your patient and history. Stop for a moment and reflect on why you became a clinician. For many of us, through life's suffering, we were called to serve others in their time of greatest need. Have two books in your nightstand, Doctors: The Biography of Medicine, and On Doctoring. Read either when a difficult day will not let you rest.
Achievement: Help create a culture that celebrates both the small and large victories. Practice the 6:1 Rule of Genuine Praise to Constructive Criticism. Pat people on the back for small victories such as taking an extra moment to clarify once again the follow up. Don't wait until the end of the year to prepare your faculty profile for the year for your chairman's annual review. Instead, keep a running template that you add to each week as the big victories trickle in. Send the email announcing your colleagues new article to the the department, tweet the article to your community.
Be The Guy - Make it a Great Week!
Slavin. PERMA: A model for institutional leadership and culture change. Academic Medicine 2012. 23111270.
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