The first clue came as I walked into the office just before noon, ready to start my afternoon and evening of scheduled patient time. One of the nurses said, "We're out of appointments for the evening."
Translation: "At best, I have no cushion for extending an existing appointment. At worst, I'll need to consider double booking."
The next clue was discovered as I reviewed my schedule. My patients for that day were light on the medical needs, heavier on the social/mental health challenges.
Translation: "The 15 minutes (900 seconds) allotted for each appointment just ain't gonna be enough."
The final clue came as I paged through my pile of papers on my desk and saw more than a few letters of medical necessity that needed to be written, two of them with ASAP post-it notes stuck to them.
Translation: "And when I have finished seeing my patients for the afternoon and evening and documenting in the chart, I still have some writing to do."
The notion of physician burnout is not new. I recall having heard about it as a medical student, but given my unbridled enthusiasm for all things medicine, I dismissed it as an outlier concept. Indeed, in 1994, when I was a medical student, a scholarly article
Medscape Pediatrics © 2018 WebMD, LLC
Any views expressed above are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of WebMD or Medscape.
Cite this: Pediatrician Burnout: Similar, yet Different - Medscape - Jul 20, 2018.
Depression
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COMMENTARY
Pediatrician Burnout: Similar, yet Different
L. Gregory Lawton, MD
DisclosuresJuly 20, 2018
The first clue came as I walked into the office just before noon, ready to start my afternoon and evening of scheduled patient time. One of the nurses said, "We're out of appointments for the evening."
Translation: "At best, I have no cushion for extending an existing appointment. At worst, I'll need to consider double booking."
The next clue was discovered as I reviewed my schedule. My patients for that day were light on the medical needs, heavier on the social/mental health challenges.
Translation: "The 15 minutes (900 seconds) allotted for each appointment just ain't gonna be enough."
The final clue came as I paged through my pile of papers on my desk and saw more than a few letters of medical necessity that needed to be written, two of them with ASAP post-it notes stuck to them.
Translation: "And when I have finished seeing my patients for the afternoon and evening and documenting in the chart, I still have some writing to do."
The notion of physician burnout is not new. I recall having heard about it as a medical student, but given my unbridled enthusiasm for all things medicine, I dismissed it as an outlier concept. Indeed, in 1994, when I was a medical student, a scholarly article
Medscape Pediatrics © 2018 WebMD, LLC
Any views expressed above are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of WebMD or Medscape.
Cite this: Pediatrician Burnout: Similar, yet Different - Medscape - Jul 20, 2018.
Tables
References
Authors and Disclosures
Authors and Disclosures
Author
L. Gregory Lawton, MD
Pediatrician, CHOP Primary Care, HighPoint, Chalfont, Pennsylvania
Disclosure: L. Gregory Lawton, MD, has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.