|
Doctors Given Own Medicine |
|
By Cheryl Powell, Beacon Journal Medical Writer September 21, 2004 Physicians
told to take care of themselves, too Some of the worst patients around are doctors
themselves. Physicians know the importance of getting enough sleep. They
tell their patients to eat well, manage stress and balance work and family.
But they need to get better at practicing what they preach. That was the diagnosis
shared Friday and Saturday during a conference at Akron Children's Hospital
to help the professionals who take care of our health take better care of
themselves. About 90 area physicians attended the two-day event,
which featured talks by experts from throughout this country and "This is the big myth in medicine: Just because we
know what we should be doing means that we are all doing It,'' said Dr. Mamta
Gautam, a psychiatrist from Ottawa, Canada, whose entire practice is made up
of doctors as patients. Gautam compared the need for doctors to put their mental
and physical health first to the safety tip flight attendants always share
with passengers before takeoff. If the pressure in the cabin changes and
oxygen masks drop from the ceiling, passengers are urged to secure their own
masks first before tending to a child or someone else. The reason is simple:
you really can’t help anybody if you’re passed out. “You are no good to anybody – your patients,
your family, your friends, your community – if
you are not taking care of yourself,” Gautam said. Dr. Jeff Kempf, an emergency
medicine physician and pediatric residency program director at Children’s,
helped organize the event as part of the hospital’s efforts to improve
physician wellness. “Physicians are horrible role models for wellness,”
he said. “they don’t think they can be
hurt. It’s always someone else. I think it has been ingrained in
physicians that the patients come first, sometimes to the detriment of your
own health or family.” In fact, a study recently published in the Journal of
the American Medical Association concluded that the culture of medicine puts
a low priority on physician mental health, despite evidence that doctors have
a higher suicide rate than the general population. Many people face stress and burnout on the job. But the
very personality traits that make people good doctors can make them more
likely to face burn-out, Gautam said. As a group, doctors tend to be
perfectionists who like to please people, she said. Typically, doctors like
to have control of situations and tend to feel a sense of responsibility and
guilt for things that happen. “We’re unrelentingly perfect,”
she said. Patients’ demands, phone calls and paperwork can
leave doctors little time to take care of their own needs, agreed Dr. Maryann
May, a pediatrician with the Akron Health Department who attended the
conference. “There’s always somebody who wants you,” she
said. Gautam gave the doctors tips for managing their stress,
but the suggestions can be used by other people too: • Identify what is causing you stress and focus on
what you can control, accepting that much is out of your control. • Try to anticipate stressful situations and make
changes, such as asking for help or adjusting your schedule. • Set priorities and learn to say no. • Don't take your work home with you. • Practice relaxation techniques. • Add fun to your work and laugh more often. • Take time off; don't finish a vacation or lunch
with a friend without planning another one. • Have a support system - at least one good friend
or even a pet to listen to your problems. |