CHAPTER ONE
PHYSICIAN WELLNESS—WHAT MAKES THIS BOOK DIFFERENT?
If you’ve picked up this book, there is a reason. It means that you have the courage to take steps to improve your life and your career.
It’s a tough time to be a physician. With the steadily growing demands and ever-waning rewards of our current health care system, doctors have become increasingly miserable, burned out, and depressed. And many physicians have simply had enough. In fact, nearly half of all doctors report that they are actively making plans to leave the clinical practice of medicine.i While attention is beginning to be paid to the increasing strain on physicians, most expert recommendations for improving wellness rely heavily on organizational change. Unfortunately, individual doctors have little to no control over how their organizations function. And, when physician-specific advice is given, it tends to be well-meaning but vague—like recommending that doctors prioritize self-care and find work-life balance, without elaborating on how to achieve such a feat.
That’s where this book is different.
Physician Wellness: The Rock Star Doctor’s Guide will start you on a journey of using the science of psychology to overcome the challenges that each of us face as practicing physicians. By learning to think differently, you will acquire the tools that can help you to take back control of your personal life and your medical practice.
What you will not find in this book: Generic, one-size-fits-all recommendations intended just to get you through another day.
Instead, the physician will discover specific, practical, data-driven advice that you can apply to improve your everyday life and to help you make changes that deliver long term benefits.
Be warned: this book will not be easy. It’s going to force you to develop a sense of self-awareness that can sometimes be uncomfortable. We will ask you to explore inner aspect
