Longevity and Legacy: How to Practice Medicine without Burnout

Presentation Summary: Physician and health professional burnout has impacted all facets of the health system. Clinics and hospitals are unable to hire enough physicians, nurses and all staff types to adequately meet patient demand. What is more, healthcare delivery that is high quality and equitable demands a care team that is multidisciplinary, complex and high functioning. Physicians want to practice great medicine while living a life of authenticity. For a healer, one aspect of living authentically is having personal well-being. The pillars of lifestyle medicine form the foundation of a life of health. It is not a lifestyle medicine practice that prevents burnout. Rather, when individuals practice the habits informed by lifestyle medicine they acquire and maintain health. Establishing these habits requires positive social interactions and effective stress management. For individuals who choose to work in healthcare, stress management requires both personal resilience and a business practice that is designed to support personal well-being. The evidence-based field of positive health (aka positive psychology and happiness science) teaches us not only how to manage stress but also how to build lives of purpose and meaning. Business teams can also achieve their goals while imbuing the lives of their members with meaning and purpose. In other words, for people to have well-being and to thrive, they must do so both at home and at work. By the end of this presentation, participants will have a framework of how to apply the concepts of stress management, emotional well-being and positive relationships to both their workplaces and personal lives. When healthcare providers direct their focus to stress management and positive relationships, they create career longevity and personal thriving.