In this article we discuss:
- Do you think healthcare burnout is problem we can solve with one solution?
- Do you think we should have learned about healthcare burnout during our doctorate level education or residency or fellowship training?
- Do you think you can reset and prevent pharmacist burnout on your own?
- Do you think burnout and stress are the same thing?
- Do you think burnout means I’m being lazy at my job?
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What is pharmacist burnout? What is the truth about healthcare burnout and what are myths of healthcare burnout?
Burnout Myth #1: Burnout is a “problem” to be “solved”
Now if you’re a pharmacist or healthcare professional reading you’re probably thinking – wait, what?! Why can’t we slap a diagnosis on it, put together a treatment plan and cure it? In my opinion, burnout and well-being are processes. They are not conquered, they are reset.
Side note – WHO – the world health organization ICD11 codes also classify burnout as an occupational phenomenon and not a medical condition
Let’s take an example many of us are familiar with…I exercise and I exercise to stay fit. There are various exercises and types of exercises I can decide to do each day. Each of these different types of exercises are different strategies I use to strengthen my muscles and build up my heart muscle. Fitness and exercises are never ending PROCESSES. The need for them never goes away. We continually build up our “muscles” exercising – just as we continually build up our “muscles” by practicing burnout prevention strategies.
Burnout Myth #2: If burnout was SO important, we would have learned about it in graduate school, residency or fellowship
Whether you went to pharmacy school, medical school, physician assistant and so on…there were only so many hours in the classroom didactic curriculum to fit in all the Science, Pharmacology, Pathophysiology, Therapeutic & Clinical knowledge we HAD to know to become healthcare professionals. Maybe there was an elective course, or a 60-minute continuing education online program that you were exposed to on well-being & burnout prevention.
Was that enough?
During school and residency you were taught to survive. I had a BLIND SPOT. I was in survival mode during my training and maybe you are too. I was never reminded or taught how to self-care and these habits fell by the wayside.
Burnout Myth #3: You can do it on your own
Let’s think about a coach for a minute. You wouldn’t see a professional athlete without a coach –LeBron James, Serena Williams, Aaron Rodgers– they all have coaches at the highest level in their sport
Why then, do we shy away a coach when we arrive at the highest level of our career in healthcare and medicine?
If you’re like me, you’ve probably hired a coach sometime in your life. A coach for fitness, weight management, hobbies such as tennis or golf, maybe even interview preparation for residency or your first career job. You were coached for 2, 4, 8 years in residency and fellowship. I was coached for 2 years during my own residency and my partner is entering his 6th year of coaching after medical residency and now fellowship. After I left residency, did I feel I had a coach anymore?
NO
Yes, I had mentors I could turn to but I was expected to be able to work independently, figure out how to teach full-time at the University and take on new responsibilities with no accountability partner. Overall, I believe that no matter where I am in life, I need an accountability partner or a coach to ensure I am working towards my goals, achieving them and getting constructive feedback along the way
This is the exact reason I hired a business coach in 2018 – I avoided hiring one for the first 2 years of my entrepreneurship and small business development. What happened? I 4x my income in less than a year. My goals became clearer, trackable, and I was held up by like-minded people in my business coaching group – also known as a Mastermind – who supported me, gave direct and honest feedback, celebrated my wins and were there when I learned from my failures.
Now it’s time for coaching on well-being and burnout prevention. APPLY HERE.
Burnout Myth #4: Stress and Burnout are the same thing
This is discussed in detail on this blog article or The Burnout Doctor Podcast episode 6 (listen here). Find our if stress and burnout in healthcare are the same thing or different.
Burnout Myth #5: Burnout means I’m being LAZY
***LAZY people DO NOT burnout.
WHY?
Because they’re not striving to succeed or putting any pressure on themselves. The don’t criticize themselves when they don’t complete something (or they wouldn’t be lazy surely?) so they are happy working their way through life in a state of “chill” and as a result of this they will never feel burnout.
It’s important to recognize that when you’re feeling burned out; you got to this stage because you’ve been over working yourself, it’s not a failure; it’s just a consequence of pushing too hard.
This topic first appeared on The Burnout Doctor Podcast episode 4 – listen here
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