This burned out physician was happier as a resident

I log onto KevinMD every day to get my much-needed dose of physician commiseration. At least once a day, one of us writes an article about burnout. It typically leaves me feeling quite validated. I particularly enjoy reading the comments section, as many of you make me laugh with your physician reality-based humor. I am more burned out than I ever hoped to be. I work in primary care, have a family and my spouse is a surgeon. My spouse and I are equally burned out, despite our differing specialties. I have “PCP burnout” qualified by: patient-centered care, clicks, forms, feeling like a doormat, patient satisfaction ruling my life, too much volume and documenting while too much time spent talking about things I don’t care about. I find myself annoyed with my patients and extremely doubtful of their intentions. I cannot be honest with them and I feel guilty about how jaded I’ve become. My spouse’s “surgeon burnout” is qualified by: insurance companies ruling his life, prior authorizations, documentation, litigation threats, ridiculous call schedules and inefficiencies that make his job a struggle. Oh, and we don’t get paid nearly enough to offset the time investment and combined $750,000 of out-of-state loans it took for us to get here. I don’t know who is making the big bucks out there but it’s not us. Continue reading ... Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social med...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Physician Hospital-Based Medicine Primary Care Source Type: blogs