Building the peer support physicians need
Sound Mind: conversations about physician wellness and medical cultureShow Notes
“In medicine we’ve been held to really unreasonable expectations of what it means to be a physician. Even the idea of ‘health care heroes’ during the pandemic, which came from wanting to honour providers, has actually had the reverse consequence – making health care providers feel they need to be superheroes.”– Dr. Jo Shapiro Dr. Jo Shapiro, surgeon, Harvard professor and founder of the US-based Center for Professionalism and Peer Support, is internationally recognized for her work in physician peer support. The program she helped create at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital pioneered the “reach in” approach, where trained peer supporters seek out medical professionals immediately after a serious medical error or other crisis events. In this episode, she talks with Dr. Caroline Gérin-Lajoie about the “reach in” approach, the “must-haves” for successful peer support programs and how she sees the COVID-19 pandemic affecting her colleagues and physician health programs in the long term. Want to learn more about physician wellness? Visit the CMA Physician Wellness Hubfor curated, clinically-based tools, resources, and research on all the topics covered in this podcast.
More from Sound Mind: conversations about physician wellness and medical culture
Burnout, depression, anxiety: These are long-standing challenges within medicine. But since the pandemic was declared, physicians’ mental health has continued to deteriorate. Now, new health and wellness data from the Canadian Medical Association sheds light on the seriousness of the situation. "I've never seen so many physicians feeling so demoralized by the system and so deeply burnt out. I think we are in dark times, but I still have optimism because my colleagues remain committed to being at the table to try to make things better." -- Dr. Katharine Smart, CMA past president On this episode of Sound Mind, Dr. Katharine Smart joins host Dr. Caroline Gérin‑Lajoie to reflect on a year of doctor-to-doctor conversations across the country while advocating for physicians’ well-being.
Medical school is tough enough. For Indigenous students, it can also be fraught with racism, and the pressure to share their cultural ‘expertise’ with teachers and classmates. “A lot of the time, the stereotypes they’ve grown up with, their internal bias, the racism they don’t realize is there, comes to the surface, and it can be very traumatic as an Indigenous student to hear that, to sit through that, to sometimes have the questions directed at you.” - Jayelle Friesen-Enns On this episode of Sound Mind, Dr. Caroline Gerin-Lajoie speaks to Josha Rafael from McMaster University and Jayelle Friesen-Enns from the University of Manitoba, about the blessings and burdens of being an Indigenous role model, and where they find support. -------------------------------------------- Read more: Physician Wellness: A Perspective from Indigenous Physicians | CMA Physician Wellness: A Perspective from Indigenous Medical Students | CMA Being a culturally safe physician | CMA
The shortage of health care workers in Canada is a growing crisis. The daily tradeoffs of caring for patients while keeping up with administrative demands is leading to burnout – and prompting some professionals to trade private clinics and hospitals for team-based practices. “Working in a team makes me feel valued. I feel like I have a team that supports me just as much as I support the physician… There's no worrying about rushing to finish your shift and having to choose between not giving care rounds to my patients or not documenting in the EMR.” – Shawna Pasiciel, HealthWORX Medical Clinic In this episode, host Dr. Caroline Gérin‑Lajoie speaks to Vancouver family doctor Christie Newton and registered nurse Shawna Pasiciel, of Medicine Hat, Alberta, about the wellness benefits of interprofessional collaboration – both for health care professionals and their patients.
The shortage of health care workers in Canada is a growing crisis. The daily tradeoffs of caring for patients while keeping up with administrative demands is leading to burnout – and prompting some professionals to trade private clinics and hospitals for team-based practices. “Working in a team makes me feel valued. I feel like I have a team that supports me just as much as I support the physician… There's no worrying about rushing to finish your shift and having to choose between not giving care rounds to my patients or not documenting in the EMR.” – Shawna Pasiciel, HealthWORX Medical Clinic In this episode, host Dr. Caroline Gérin‑Lajoie speaks to Vancouver family doctor Christie Newton and registered nurse Shawna Pasiciel, of Medicine Hat, Alberta, about the wellness benefits of interprofessional collaboration – both for health care professionals and their patients.
The strain of working in a health system on the brink – not to mention two years of a pandemic – can erode the sense of meaning that motivates so many physicians. But two emergency doctors, Anthony Fong in Vancouver and Daniel Kollek in Hamilton, found inspiration by going towards, rather than away, from crisis on a volunteer medical mission in Ukraine.