Career and Life Planning Guidebook for Medical Residents

SECTION I: T MINUS THREE YEARS R E A D : Work Smarter, Not Harder: Making Your EHR And Email Work For You We all know EHRs are a double-edged sword. E-prescribing, not having to read terrible hand- writing, and being able to print patient instructions are all potential upsides of electronic medical records. The downsides: physician perception of EHRs turning them into data entry clerks and seemingly unlimited patient access to electronic information, are often cited as prime contributors of physician burnout (3) . As it currently stands, EHRs are here to stay. To make the most of this, keep a few things in mind. First, “embrace the suck” i.e. become a “super- user” of your clinical system. Identify a mentor who is efficient and who’s work/documentation you respect and ask them what their secrets are. Find a way to make the system work for you. Second, provideconstructive feedback. Take theopportunity to be on an EHR governance committee and work to make reasonable, positive changes in the system you currently have. Email inboxes can be as anxiety provoking as your electronic clinical desktop. Many organizations, especially large ones, communicate almost exclusivelybyemail. I’mprettysurewecouldallspend the equivalent of one entire administrative session just sorting and responding to email. The good news is there are tricks for this aswell: systems such as the inbox zero concept, elec-tronic dropboxes/drives, and good old-fashioned paper “to-do lists” can help make this task less overwhelming and more efficient. The other key concept to keep in mind is to not check your email incessantly. Having technology at our fingertips can potentially be good, however, there is a downside: feeling the need to reply to things immediately to check for responses repeatedly can take a toll on your mental health. Keep these practices from Harvard Business Review in mind (4): Turn off notifications and instead check your email hourly Move every email out of your inbox the first time you read it Use the search function with search operators to re-find emails Set up just two email folders and use shortcuts to archive emails there Avoid processing irrelevant or less important emails individually By following these simple rules, you are taking another step toward practicing wellness: setting boundaries. Email inboxes can be as anxiety provoking as your electronic clinical desktop. CAREER AND LIFE PLANNING GUIDEBOOK FOR MEDICAL RESIDENTS 56