Dear friends & colleagues- the support you have shown in a vulnerable moment has been overwhelming. I will try to highlight some of the advice and reflections I have received on #burnout that were helpful & thought provoking:
1) Celebrate your numerator. We focus to much on the denominator (those things not yet done), but the wins we have delivered get forgotten too quickly.
2) Life is a marathon run on an oval track. There are often things/issues that come around again. Don’t beat yourself up, you have not failed- this is life. Learn a bit more about yourself with each experience.
3) Medicine has its issues, but we are a community and we care. Today so many ppl took the time to check in. I am so grateful you were there. Thank you.
4) Being a attentive parent takes 100% of your focus, being a focused researcher/physician/professional takes 100% of your focus. There will never be 200% of you. Do the best you can and cut yourself slack.
5) Children of physicians get it (thank you @ShireenJ for this wisdom). Trust your choices, it doesn’t hurt kids to see their parents help others. Your work may inspire kids in unexpected and valuable ways.
6) Sabbaticals- just take them.
7) We are too smart as a professional group to keep thinking that this way of doing business is good for us or our patients- disruption is possible and we should be able to do it. Thank you @apmille1, so agree.
8) @CalDomMed tweeted support for a colleague being frank about #burnout. This matters, a lot. Leadership allowing this discussion is so important to providing hope that things may change for the better. Also tells young staff/trainees that you can speak up and not face reprisal
9) #Burnout is real & extraordinarily common. Tips aside, sometimes there isn’t much we can do or change- but just hearing a respected colleague say, ‘Been there, can I help?’ can make all the difference.
Just a special thanks to @docs4docs and @picardonhealth for illustrating the power of #SoMe in discussing this issue. Sometimes you yell into the dark on Twitter, but sometime you are heard and it makes ALL the difference.
