Oncology Burnout – Prevent It Today

HemOnc Today published an article about the increasing rate of oncologist burnout and its lack of recognition. To summarize the article here are the most important facts:

Approximately one-third of practicing oncologists experience a significant career burnout, according to data from a collection of studies. A 2003 survey, found that the rate of burnout in the U.S. oncology community exceeded 60%. In 2007 the Annals of Surgical Oncology published that 28% of surveyed surgical oncologists reported having burnout. Burnout is more common among women and among surgeons aged 50 or younger.

Physician burnout can:

• have negative effects on patient satisfaction
• can affect patient compliance with medical care
• lead to an increase in medical error
• affects the integrity of health care
• raise personal consequences with respect to physicians’ personal relationships and their own mental, emotional and physical health

Top 3 signs of burnout:

• Frustration (78%)
• Emotional exhaustion (69%)
• Lack of satisfaction with work (50%)

What is burnout:
“syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and a sense of low personal accomplishment that leads to decreased effectiveness at work”
“erosion of the soul”

Symptoms:

• Cynicism
• Explosions of anger and unexplainable body aches
• Stress
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Substance abuse
• Broken relationships
• Loss of enthusiasm for work

Preventing and treating burnout

According to the article, being proactive includes:

• Having a more formal mentorship program,
• Getting annual physical examinations and
• Being willing to seek professional help at an earlier stage of burnout.
• Having discussion with other oncologists about the job would also have a positive effect.
• Physicians should pay attention to their personal lives
• Get better training in some tasks such as delivering bad news and managing end-of-life care
• Be better prepared for business challenges at the office

Based on my experience burnout prevention has to be more than that:

Define what success means to you
The number of cancer patients is dramatically increasing each year and I could imagine if you, as an oncologist wanted to work and see patients 24 hours a day, you probably could. But would that be healthy for you?
Instead, you want to define what success means to you. What would make a “typical day” successful and would make you feel good about yourself and your profession? How many patients would you have to see?

Make self-care a priority
If you as a physician don’t take care of yourself, how can you be a good care-taker for your patients?
How would you feel if you went to a dentist who had rotten teeth? Would you feel comfortable getting your teeth done by this dentist? One important process for any type of healing is self-care and if you as a physician want to emphasize the importance of self-care, you want to role-model it.
Even though the patients don’t necessary see the diseases that are forming in your body (like you see the teeth in the dentist’s mouth), they feel your energy, your temper, your frustrations, and they do see the dark circles under your eyes.

Create goals outside of work
Setting goals outside of work helps us realize that life doesn’t evolve only around work. Too many physicians identify themselves only with their roles as a physician which leads easily to burnout. I order to feel joy for your profession, you need to be able to step away from it.
It is kind of like your favorite food. If you only ate your favorite food every day, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, very soon it wouldn’t be your favorite food anymore and soon you will hate it. Therefore include variety in your life. Set goals outside of work. Make appointments with family and friends; book that vacation spot and don’t bail out. You think you are irreplaceable and your patients need you? Wait until you are diagnosed with a major disease and will be away from your practice for a while you and will see how quickly your patients adapt.

Learn to control stress
Stress is the predecessor of burnout which is part of life that you can control. Partly with exercise, partly with nutrition, partly with lifestyle changes and primarily with attitude and perspective. Knowing how to control and minimize stress has to become a major part of burnout prevention.

Work with an accountability partner / coach
Making meaningful improvements that benefit you can be challenging. After all, you have been programmed for so many years to put yourself last. If you continue putting yourself last, you will do a disservice to your patients and your family and yourself. Moving yourself up in the priority list doesn’t mean that you neglect your duties as a physician. With the help of a coach or accountability partner, you can maintain and even increase your performance in your practice while also enjoying a satisfying life.

The article is very informative when it comes to raising awareness on the topic of oncologist burnout but in my opinion lacks practical and effective solutions.

Iris Grimm
www.BalancedPhysician.com