Six ways to reduce burnout

In the practice of medicine, patient care requires physicians to endure long hours, keep electronic medical records, manage administrative work burdens, and deal with public health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Over time, these unique stressors contribute to physician burnout.

Resilience has gained attention as one of the ways to address burnout. Resilience in physicians has been increasingly studied following Zwack and Schweitzer’s article, “If every fifth physician is affected by burnout, what about the other four? Resilience strategies of experienced physicians.”

Resilience is the ability to adapt and overcome, rebound from stressors, and return to a balanced state of well-being. Having resilience is key to living a positive quality of life — complete with joy, hope, and possibilities — regardless of the challenges that life throws at you.

When asked about the nature of resilience, many physicians quoted the ability to cope with challenges in health care rather than thriving (Roslan NS, Yusoff MSB, Morgan K, Ab Razak A, Ahmad Shauki NI., 2022). The theme is also in alignment with our biological understanding that resilience is developed when an individual encounters and successfully copes with adversity.

Physicians encounter adversities daily that can lead to burnout. Here are a few tips to improve your resilience and reduce burnout.

Get connected. Building strong, positive relationships with loved ones and friends can provide you with needed support and acceptance in good and bad times. Establish other important connections by volunteering or joining a faith or spiritual community.

Make every day meaningful. Do something that gives you a sense of accomplishment and purpose every day. Set goals to help you look toward the future with meaning.

Learn from experience. Think of how you've coped with hardships in the past. Consider the skills and strategies that helped you through difficult times. You might even write about past experiences in a journal to help you identify positive and negative behavior patterns — and guide your future behavior.

Remain hopeful. You can't change the past, but you can always look toward the future. Accepting and even anticipating change makes it easier to adapt and view new challenges with less anxiety.

Take care of yourself. Tend to your own needs and feelings. Participate in activities and hobbies you enjoy. Include physical activity in your daily routine. Get plenty of sleep. Eat a healthy diet. Practice stress management and relaxation techniques, such as yoga, meditation, guided imagery, deep breathing, or prayer.

Be proactive. Don't ignore your problems. Instead, figure out what needs to be done, make a plan, and take action. Although it can take time to recover from a major setback, traumatic event, or loss, know that your situation can improve if you work at it.

When to seek professional advice?

Becoming more resilient takes time and practice. If you don't feel you're making progress — or if you don’t know where to start — consider talking to a mental health professional. We want to remind you that TAFP values your emotional health and has invested in online professional counseling with Anticipate Joy so that you can easily access licensed professional therapists in the convenience of your own home and on your own schedule. With guidance, you can improve your resiliency and mental well-being.

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Roslan NS, Yusoff MSB, Morgan K, Ab Razak A, Ahmad Shauki NI. What Are the Common Themes of Physician Resilience? A Meta-Synthesis of Qualitative Studies. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Jan 1;19(1):469.

Zwack J., Schweitzer J. If Every Fifth Physician Is Affected by Burnout, What about the other Four? Resilience Strategies of Experienced Physicians. Acad. Med. 2013;88:382–389.

Anticipate Joy is an innovative mental health treatment and wellness company that supports healing and personal growth through a HIPAA-compliant online professional counseling platform. It uses technology to create an introduction between a physician and a therapist, enabling physician clients to have therapy sessions with a licensed mental health provider from the comfort of your own home.