Becker's ASC Review

17 Executive Briefing: Sponsored by: A lthough burnout has long been a problem for clinicians, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a continuous trauma for many healthcare workers on the front lines. In this environment, it's important for leaders to do what they can to help support staff. Encouraging and allowing clinicians time to engage in self-care can help. Additionally, deploying the right technologies in the workplace can also dramatically reduce the day-to-day stresses facing clinicians. Becker's ASC Review recently spoke with two experts from Modernizing Medicine Gastroenterology about physician burnout and best practices for dealing with this serious problem: • Julie Servoss, MD, MPH, Senior Medical Director of Gastroenterology • Jason Sugar, MD, Lead Gastroenterologist Everyone experiences burnout differently, but neglecting self-care is a common root cause Physician burnout is so widespread that most physicians have experienced it at some point in their career, either during their medical training or during practice. Dr. Servoss is one of those practitioners who understands burnout on a personal level. "I experienced a period of burnout near the end of my fellowship training in gastroenterology, when I was doing clinical research and getting my master's degree at the Harvard School of Public Health in clinical effectiveness," Dr. Servoss said. "I was augmenting my skillset and experience not only as a gastroenterologist, but also as a clinical researcher. Concomitantly, I had two kids under the age of two. Trying to holistically manage my career and my personal life proved to be too many tasks and too many balls up in the air." Burnout often leads to depressive symptoms. During Dr. Servoss' episode of burnout, she didn't derive the same amount of joy from spending time with her husband and children. "I was exhausted, distracted and thinking about the next thing I had to do," she said. "I was unable cognitively, physically and emotionally manage all the things I had put on my plate." Dr. Servoss has found that neglecting self-care is one of the root causes of burnout. When physicians are faced with a heavy burden of urgent tasks, they are constantly extinguishing fires in either their professional or personal life. Self-care is usually one of the first things they sacrifice. "You can always put off self-care, because it only impacts you," Dr. Servoss said. "People tend to put themselves last and that was certainly the case for me." Self-care means taking a holistic approach to health and wellness, which includes eating well, getting enough sleep and exercising. Neglecting self-care can turn into a vicious cycle. When people don't take care of themselves, it creates more stress and depressive symptoms. The psychological impact of not having an integrated, harmonious work and life situation leads to feeling imbalanced and unwell. "You need to make time for leisure activities, exercise, a good diet and sleep," Dr. Sugar said. "I think it's important to carve out time for yourself and to spend time with your family. Physicians need to maintain a healthy lifestyle whether they are in a pandemic or not and whether they have burnout or not." Setting boundaries enables physicians to "say no and protect their yes" To support greater well-being, Dr. Servoss recommends physicians take time to prioritize their goals, whether it's productivity in their practice or other things they value. "You actually have to assign value to the things that are important in your life," Dr. Servoss said. "Only you can identify that. Then you start saying no to the things that aren't in your set of values or goals. That can be very difficult for high-achieving professionals like physicians. It's hard to say no because we are called to give and care for others. But in my mind, saying no actually protects my yes; I protect my time for the things I value most." Boundary-setting applies to physicians' practice settings, as well as to their personal lives. The key is to be proactive about managing time and aligning work with personal and professional goals. "Physicians often have this urgent desire to build their practices when they're first starting out," Dr. Servoss said. "I've seen this in my colleagues and in myself. Your office schedule might be 8:30am to 6:00pm. Then all of a sudden, you're trying to see new patients, and you start coming in at 8:00am instead. Now, in the era of COVID-19 and telemedicine, work can bleed even more into the remaining hours of the day. We have to be mindful of that." In addition to the increased use of telemedicine, the pandemic has introduced new practices like donning PPE for face-to-face appointments and frequent temperature checks. It's important to recognize that all of these small shifts can create added burdens for physicians. Health IT, self-care strategies and physician well-being — 2 GIs weigh in

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