Physician health

Your Patients’ Health Depends on Your Overall Well-Being - 05/16/2022

Taking care of your patients is obviously your first priority. But while you’re working to improve the lives of people in your community, don’t forget to take care of yourself, too. After all, you can’t treat patients effectively if you’re not treating yourself well.

Take Care of Your Financial Well-Being - 05/16/2022

  Paying back student loans, budgeting for personal/family needs, investing, and planning for retirement can be overwhelming at times. But maintaining your financial well-being doesn’t have to be a burden, particularly with help from the Texas Medical Association’s Committee on Physician Health and Wellness.  

Improve Your Spiritual, Emotional, and Social Well-Being - 05/16/2022

The Texas Medical Association’s Committee on Physician Health and Wellness has developed CME courses that will help you stay positive, let go of angry thoughts, and relieve stress and burnout.

Improve Your Work-Life Balance with These Simple Steps - 05/16/2022

You’re a busy physician, so you might not always have time to take care of yourself as well as your patients. But taking care of yourself doesn’t just mean focusing on your physical well-being. Your mental, financial, and emotional fitness need to be looked after as well. The Texas Medical Association’s Committee on Physician Health and Wellness can help you assess your work-life balance and determine your core values.

Build Your Inner Strength at ALLMED - 04/22/2022

One of the greatest gifts physicians and their spouses can share with each other and others is a sense of their own inner strength. Psychologist Robert J. Wicks, PsyD, will share his insights and best practices on that topic at the Texas Medical Association Alliance’s ALLMED Annual Conference keynote presentation on Friday, April 29.

Physician Suicide Prevention, Advocacy Examined During AMA Presentation - 04/05/2022

For two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated physician stressors, from burnout to disinformation, sometimes with tragic consequences. But physicians play a central role in changing the culture of medicine to support their own well-being, job satisfaction, and stigma-free access to mental and behavioral health services.

Physician Wellness Think Tank Calls for More Workforce Support - 11/30/2021

The harm the “resilience” narrative causes to physicians, soul-centered medicine, and a reexploration of a physician’s career calling all received a close look at the Texas Medical Association’s second Physician Health and Wellness (PHW) Exchange in late October.

Preventable Pain: COVID Surge, Anti-Vax Sentiments Compound Physicians' Turmoil on the Job - 11/01/2021

Pushback from patients on medical advice and course of treatment is nothing new. But physicians say the degree of it – a lack of trust in science, medicine, and expertise – has never been as pronounced as it is now, in the era of the highly contagious delta variant, widespread availability of COVID-19 vaccines, and millions of people who simply refuse to avail themselves of them. And it’s piling onto the already-existing assaults on physician mental well-being – now increasingly framed as physician “moral injury.”

Commentary: What Really Is Wounding the Healer? - 10/31/2021

There are few issues in medicine and health care that are the subject of more controversy than the semantics of what wounds physicians. Are we suffering from “moral injury” or “burnout” or “compassion fatigue” or “vicarious trauma” or “depression?”

Share Ideas to Improve Health, Wellness of Medical Workforce - 09/29/2021

TMA's Committee on Physician Health and Wellness wants to know your ideas on how your institution can better support your wellness. The committee invites you to submit your contributions to improve the health of the medical workforce by Monday, Oct. 11 for the upcoming PHW Poster Session.

Physicians Benevolent Fund Supports Physicians in Need - 09/20/2021

The Physicians Benevolent Fund helps support physicians and their immediate families who fall on desperate financial times or who are in treatment, perhaps as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic or because of other circumstances. TMA family members can support PBF in two ways.

TMA Fund Offers Assistance for Substance Abuse Treatment - 09/20/2021

If you or a colleague is struggling with alcohol or any other substance abuse disorder and needs treatment, TMA's Physicians Benevolent Wellness Fund is here to provide financial assistance for qualified physicians and their immediate families.

No Escape: COVID-19 Continues to Exacerbate Physician Burnout - 09/17/2021

The malaise in physician practice long known as burnout – a term doctors increasingly balk at – has been exacerbated by the pandemic, as an extensive survey by the Physicians Foundation recently showed. It’s created its own stressors and made existing ones worse.

Got Stress? Manage It with Help From These TMA Resources - 04/22/2021

Stress comes in many forms, especially during the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. The Texas Medical Association‘s Committee on Physician Health and Wellness offers resources to help physicians better deal with those stressors.

CME for You: Good Nutrition = Good Health - 03/26/2021

The Texas Medical Association has several CME courses designed to help you and your patients make informed food choices and develop healthy eating and physical activity habits.  

Plug In to Self-Care and Wellness With TMA Resources - 03/19/2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted and at times exacerbated mental health struggles for physicians and other health care professionals as well as patients. The Texas Medical Association’s Physician Health and Wellness (PHW) PlugIns provide resources to help you care for yourself while you’re caring for patients.

Find Ways to Care for Your Personal Well-Being During Virtual Event - 03/15/2021

If you need to find ways to maintain yourself physically and emotionally, tune in to the latest edition of the Texas Medical Association Alliance’s (TMAA) Enrichment Series, scheduled for Thursday, March 18.  

Physicians Benevolent Fund Helps Physicians, Families - 03/08/2021

When Texas physicians and their families have needed support because of poverty, infirmity, disability, accident, or other adversity, the TMA Physicians Benevolent Fund has stepped in to help for the past 53 years.

When the Fight Becomes Personal: Physicians Share Their Stories of Contracting COVID-19 - 02/01/2021

It’s no surprise that many physicians were among the more than 1.3 million confirmed COVID-19 cases in Texas last year. Texas Medicine spoke with three Texas physicians who contracted COVID-19 to learn how the disease affected them physically and impacted their outlook as caregivers.

TMA Can Help Medical Community Cope With Stress - 01/29/2021

The Texas Medical Association’s Committee on Physician Health and Wellness is committed to supporting your well-being during this time of challenge and distance. Here are ways the committee is available for you.

COVID-19 Negatively Affecting Physician Wellness, Survey Shows - 09/17/2020

Fifty percent of physicians have experienced inappropriate anger, tearfulness, or anxiety because of COVID-19’s effects on their practice or employment, according to a new survey on the pandemic’s effects on physicians.

You Need More Than PPE to Fight COVID-19 Effectively - 07/28/2020

To help community physicians during these challenging times, the Texas Medical Association Foundation (TMAF) has established the TMAF Caring for Physician Healers: Mental Health and Wellness Resources During COVID-19 Fund.

Seven Ways TMA Is Helping the Medical Community Cope With COVID-19 - 07/24/2020

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, you might be getting overwhelmed by the stress of caring for patients while protecting yourself and your staff. The Texas Medical Association’s Committee on Physician Health and Wellness is committed to supporting your well-being during this time of challenge and distance.

COVID-19 Doesn’t Have to Be Mentally Overwhelming - 05/20/2020

The COVID-19 can take its toll on you and your colleagues. To help give you some perspective – as well as some insight and tips – into taking care of your own mental well-being, the Texas Medical Association reached out to Austin psychiatrist and internal medicine physician Thomas Kim, MD, who spoke at length about what causes stress and ways to overcome it.

Practicing Self-Care 2.0 During These Stressful Times - 04/01/2020

If you want to improve your mental and physical well-being during these uncertain times, the following changes might be helpful.