Career and Life Planning Guidebook for Medical Residents

SECTION I: T MINUS THREE YEARS R E A D : You Know It When You See It: Identifying Symptoms of Burnout In Residency and Beyond The opportunity to practice medicine is a profound privilege that is inherently instilledwith a deep sense of fundamental meaning and purpose. Physicians are frequently present at intimate moments when their patients are navigating some of the most intense life-changing experiences human beings have. The relationship between the physician and the patient, which may be forged over a lifetime or in just a few moments, can provide vast benefit for the patient as well as immense intrinsic gratification for the doctor. However, the potential for great reward comes with great responsibility. The counterbalance to the tremendous innate fulfillment of being a physician is the risk of suffering as a result. Awareness of the risk associated with being a physician coupled with an intentional commitment to mitigate against that risk is critical in order to remain a compassionate skilled practitionerwho still feels the joyof practicing medicine. There are multiple strategies which can help you avoid burnout and also give you a good shot at being a decent human being. Occupational burnout, which is thought to be the result of work-related stress related to job satisfaction, was first characterized by Herbert Freudenberger in 1974. 19 He borrowed the term from the drug culture where it was used to describe the effects of chronic drug abuse on individuals. He applied the term to volunteers working at a free clinic whose emotional reservoir had been expended and who subsequently lost motivation and commitment to continue their work. Independently and somewhat simultaneously, the social psychologist Christina Maslach ran across the term burnout while interviewing human services workers inCalifornia. She learned throughherwork that the emotional exhaustion these workers felt resulted in negative feelings about the individuals they were trying to help. These workers went on to experience a crisis in professional competence as a consequence of the emotional turmoil that was created. CAREER AND LIFE PLANNING GUIDEBOOK FOR MEDICAL RESIDENTS 36