Fourth-year medical student Alyssa Greenwood Francis lost both parents during her first year at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine and worried that taking time off would hurt her career prospects.
Houston pediatrician Alex Yudovich, MD, experienced burnout during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic – when his young, mostly Medicaid patients bore the brunt of its impact – before seeking out employment as a newborn hospitalist. Austin rheumatologist Brian Sayers, MD, was blindsided as a medical student when his friend and roommate died by suicide but later found solace in faith and spirituality.
These physicians and others shared their personal experiences with burnout, moral injury, and other job stressors as part of a panel during the Texas Medical Association’s Fall Conference on Sept. 17, which was also National Physician Suicide Awareness Day. TMA also debuted its new program, Wellness First, through which member physicians can access self-assessment tools, local physician wellness programs, and educational resources.
New Braunfels family physician Emily Briggs, MD, commended her colleagues for sharing their stories and TMA for its attention on such a pressing topic.
“It really shows growth in our organization to have TMA focus on [physician wellness],” she said through tears during the program.
As part of their keynote presentations, physician speakers emphasized the importance of talking about these difficult topics as well as increasing the number of resources – including Wellness First – available to help medical students, residents, and physicians regain equanimity.
Ms. Greenwood Francis spoke about medical schools’ growing focus on student wellness and encouraged the audience to seek help during their own personal traumas.
“My story’s not unique,” she said. “We have to make spaces for us to talk about this.”
Dr. Yudovich emphasized the benefits of a career shift – from private practice to employment, in his case – when seeking work-life balance. Like many physicians, he first experienced burnout during the pandemic, which exacerbated long-standing occupational hazards.
After a six-year period of decline, the physician burnout rate spiked in 2021, rising to 62.8% compared with 38.2% in 2020, according to a recently published study in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
Fortunately, TMA and others in organized medicine have rallied to respond. In addition to Wellness First, TMA members can access support services through several county-level physician wellness programs.
Dr. Sayers, who chairs the Travis County Medical Society’s Physician Wellness Program, said it has provided more than 1,500 free and anonymous counseling sessions since its inception in 2017.
“We are a family, and families help each other,” he said.
In addition, the American Medical Association launched in June its Recovery Plan for America’s Physicians, which aims to reduce physician burnout and the administrative burdens that interfere with patient care.
Boerne internist Nora Vasquez, MD, also spoke during Fall Conference about the consequences of physician burnout. On the professional side, she cited high turnover rates, lower productivity, and decreased quality of care. On the personal side, she added depression, suicidal ideation, substance use, and broken relationships to the list.
Dr. Vasquez’s own experience with burnout led her to become a certified life coach, and she is now CEO of Renew Your Mind MD, a physician coaching service. She asked physicians to consider burnout as “a blessing in disguise,” one that could compel medicine to prioritize a culture of wellness. Doing so, she argued, would pay dividends.
“If we improve physician wellness, we’ll improve the health of all Texans,” she said.
TMA members who attended Fall Conference are eligible for up to 5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ and up to 4 ethics and/or professional responsibility credits. They can report their attendance using TMA's self-reporting tool.