I have had the opportunity of working in a wide variety of medical practices through my career from physical therapy to PM&R. It is such a sad state that the commonality between the many specialties have been provider frustration, physical/mental exhaustion, and overall burnout.
We all put so much time, thought and effort into every one of patients and unfortunately that takes its toll on us. In many cases, we play the role of doctor, mental health provider, counselor, and motivation speaker in every appointment. The problem is, who does that for us? I make a concerted effort to not bring that weight home with me but I must say, I'm not perfect so there have definitely been days that I come home physically and mentally exhausted.
I understand that I certainly am biased when I say this but the difference between the specialties that you listed and hands on therapists like physical therapists and Chiropractors is the physical nature of our appointments. My father was a Dermatologist and as long as he could identify a skin abnormality, he could work until he was 100.
For therapists who are hands on, we use our bodies like a machine and with having a hands-on component on virtually every patient visit, there is certainly a physical burnout component to our careers. With the treatments being taught yesterday and even today, I can't imagine being able to keep up a 10+ patient visit day pace into my 60's. After graduation, I took courses on hands-on treatments and after only 6 months to a year later, I found myself coming home and icing my hands because of how performing a therapy on 10+ patients a day, 8+ minutes a visit, 5 days a week really added up. The patient certainly felt better after my appointment but I felt worse!
For therapists, finding the right balance of treating smarter, not harder and learning our own therapy methods is imperative! We need to have concrete strategies for ergonomics and coping strategies so that we can treat for as long as we choose, not when our body or minds say enough is enough.
From practical experience: When I reported for my first job as a PT graduate in 1982, the hospital administrator, Mr. Taft, came to greet me. He welcomed me and said (and I quote because I was so touched I will never forget) "You take care of the patients, Virginia, and we'll take care of you". That was true for a few years. Then Mr. Taft retired, a new administrator came, and the era of managed care began in earnest at our hospital. Patient care was increasingly squeezed as attention shifted to increasingly complex documentation, billing practices, FTE's and more.
All healthcare givers want to take care of patients first and foremost. With today's reality that documentation requirements for reimbursement have been made a higher priority, there is conflict with our purpose.
I believe documentation requirements and billing are unnecessarily complex, indeed are a burden. This is a big part of the problem, in my opinion. Not the whole problem, but a substantial contributor.
Good article LB
I had no idea the suicide rate of physicians was so high. This was information that I had no knowledge about and found interesting.
Thanks for sharing Larry.
I have had the opportunity of working in a wide variety of medical practices through my career from physical therapy to PM&R. It is such a sad state that the commonality between the many specialties have been provider frustration, physical/mental exhaustion, and overall burnout.
We all put so much time, thought and effort into every one of patients and unfortunately that takes its toll on us. In many cases, we play the role of doctor, mental health provider, counselor, and motivation speaker in every appointment. The problem is, who does that for us? I make a concerted effort to not bring that weight home with me but I must say, I'm not perfect so there have definitely been days that I come home physically and mentally exhausted.
I understand that I certainly am biased when I say this but the difference between the specialties that you listed and hands on therapists like physical therapists and Chiropractors is the physical nature of our appointments. My father was a Dermatologist and as long as he could identify a skin abnormality, he could work until he was 100.
For therapists who are hands on, we use our bodies like a machine and with having a hands-on component on virtually every patient visit, there is certainly a physical burnout component to our careers. With the treatments being taught yesterday and even today, I can't imagine being able to keep up a 10+ patient visit day pace into my 60's. After graduation, I took courses on hands-on treatments and after only 6 months to a year later, I found myself coming home and icing my hands because of how performing a therapy on 10+ patients a day, 8+ minutes a visit, 5 days a week really added up. The patient certainly felt better after my appointment but I felt worse!
For therapists, finding the right balance of treating smarter, not harder and learning our own therapy methods is imperative! We need to have concrete strategies for ergonomics and coping strategies so that we can treat for as long as we choose, not when our body or minds say enough is enough.
From practical experience: When I reported for my first job as a PT graduate in 1982, the hospital administrator, Mr. Taft, came to greet me. He welcomed me and said (and I quote because I was so touched I will never forget) "You take care of the patients, Virginia, and we'll take care of you". That was true for a few years. Then Mr. Taft retired, a new administrator came, and the era of managed care began in earnest at our hospital. Patient care was increasingly squeezed as attention shifted to increasingly complex documentation, billing practices, FTE's and more.
All healthcare givers want to take care of patients first and foremost. With today's reality that documentation requirements for reimbursement have been made a higher priority, there is conflict with our purpose.
I believe documentation requirements and billing are unnecessarily complex, indeed are a burden. This is a big part of the problem, in my opinion. Not the whole problem, but a substantial contributor.
100% and the research supports your contention.