 Woodbridge, CT A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to interview a faculty physician at a large academic medical center. We spoke about burnout in students and faculty in general terms. He was aware of the problem yet did not seem affected himself.
I asked him how he managed to avoid burnout. He talked about remembering his purpose in entering medicine—that the profession is a calling, not just the daily tasks involved—by re-reading thank you cards from patients, residents, and students. He talked about taking time to chat with the staff in the clinics where he works, getting to know the schedulers by name for example, to create connection in a world where he sees fewer and fewer opportunities to connect than in the past. Then he mentioned his “boss,” the chair of the department, a practicing internist herself. He told me that her leadership helped him in small ways and large to avoid burnout. He mentioned her habit of asking, “How are you?” and meaning, “How are you doing as a person?” He said he had the sense that she cared about his well-being as well as the advancement of his career. His mention of his supervisor as a source of “burnout protection” caught my attention. The physicians I’ve interviewed rarely speak about their leader’s role in preventing burnout.
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