We need to start talking about what comes after physician burnout

I burned out, big and bad.  I can see that now.  My practice environment had become gradually untenable and every attempt I made to change it was blocked.  My call schedule was inflexible and a lot more frequent than when I started my job.  The hospitalists and ED kept sending me cases I didn’t feel qualified to manage, but as it was usually the middle of the night and I was the general surgeon on call, I had no choice. In the morning, when I asked again if we could find another way to manage these patients, I was told to suck it up, and usually something about bootstraps. I was also trying to handle this without appearing stressed so referring providers would keep sending me patients.  Despite this, my projected salary for the next year was significantly lower, with the same frequency and intensity of call.  I approached the administration about cutting back on call, going part time, or finding some other way to decrease my workload.  They said no.  I broke. It had been creeping for some time.  When I was a resident, I only drank when I could, which almost never.  Then I got my first real doctor job, I could and did drink much more frequently.  I started leaning on alcohol to cut my stress, to switch off my job when I was home.  I self-medicated, became comfortably numb.  It was never at work and never on call, but nevertheless, my husband started to get concerned about my drinking.  He started leaning on me to quit. That’s when it got really ugly.  The id...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Tags: Physician Hospital Surgery Source Type: blogs