What cancer and teatime taught me about burnout
Chipper in his bow tie, our senior physician approached balancing a tray of milky black tea in his hands. He passed each of us a steaming mug. The scones followed, warm and crumbly, slathered with golden butter and glistening raspberry jam.
We sank into the tweed couches of the hospital lounge eager for a pause. Morning rounds had been a whirlwind of chest pain, strokes, intractable headaches, alcohol withdrawal and diabetes. We had two dozen less acute patients still to see, but first, a break.
Our minds welcomed the distraction. Our tense brows relaxed, shoulders softened, feet relented. We shared jokes and weekend plans between bites and sips. We soon returned our ring-stained saucers to the counter, rejuvenated, ready to better attend to each patient.
As a visiting medical student at a community hospital in Scotland, I found this teatime ritual foreign, but I savored it.
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Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: General Medicine Authors: < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/julia-michie-bruckner" rel="tag" > Julia Michie Bruckner, MD, MPH < /a > Tags: Physician Hospital-Based Medicine Oncology/Hematology Source Type: blogs
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