New program offers support to physicians facing burnout
The medical world is centered on patients, but physicians need support too. The Central Oregon Medical Society is establishing the Oregon Wellness Program to provide immediate support for medical professionals.
Oncologist and Director of Clinical Research at the St. Charles Medical Center, Dr. Archie Bleyer, said Monday the medical field has changed since he started practicing.
“We don’t think of doctors as being vulnerable (because) it’s the patient who comes to a doctor for help, not the doctor to a patient,” Bleyer said. “Yet that’s what we are facing right now. Physicians need as much help as some of our patients.”
Many physicians are stressed and have difficulty conducting their medical practice.
“I’ve been in the practice of medicine for 53 years, and in the first year I lost a fellow medical student to suicide,” Bleyer said. “And every year since then, although I may not have known the individual, I have been in the vicinity of someone else who has either taken their life or quit medicine or become addicted to a substance they couldn’t overcome.” .
It’s called burnout. It can result from external and personal factors, such as the state of the economy, little time for leisure and exercise and financial concerns.
President of the Central Oregon Medical Society and emergency room physician Dr. Matt Eschelbach said doctors are under pressure to do more with far less. He said physicians are used to working under stress, but that stress can build up, leading physicians to quit their jobs, start abusing drugs or even commit suicide.
“Most physicians have a Superman, Superwoman or Wonder Woman attitude about things,” Eschelbach said. “They’re reluctant to ask for help, and we’re trying to get that to happen.”
This program will allow providers to call in, ask for help and receive the support they need.
“This is nationwide, but Oregon is unique in that we are actually one of the forefronts of recognizing physician burnout and actually starting something to to fix it,” Eschelbach said.
A survey of 28,000 physicians found 50 percent of them reported having symptoms of burnout. That state of mind lowers job satisfaction, increases the desire to work fewer hours, and decreases productivity levels.
“Work and life balance is a very hard thing for physicians to do, because we want to be perfect to our patients, we want to be perfect to our family — and we can’t be perfect to everybody,” Eschelbach said.
Eventually, if physicians are not taking care of themselves, they cannot fully care for a patient.
“That’s an essential problem,” Bleyer said. “Physicians don’t know they need help, they refuse to believe they need help. That’s not something they were taught (because) it’s the patient who’s in trouble.”
Dr. Don Girard, a physician and professor emeritus in the School of Medicine at Oregon Health and Science University, said part of the goal of the program is to help physicians remember why they do what they do and to develop strategies to be more resilient to modern-day stresses.
“I’ve had a fabulous experience in this profession, and that has been my work my entire life. And it really is about connecting with people, working with people and helping people,” Girard said. “It’s an incredibly rewarding profession.”
The medical society hopes to launch the program in March. To learn more, you can visit the link below:
And if you know anyone who needs help, visit our “Let’s Talk” page under the community tab on our website.
