National Physicians Week, from March 25-31, is a time to reflect on physicians’ dedication, skill and profound contributions to our wellness and quality of life.
Physician burnout, already high, rose significantly during the pandemic. The long-term job-related stress physicians are experiencing, stemming from overwhelming bureaucratic demands, long hours and other factors, influences physicians’ happiness and career satisfaction.
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55%
of physicians affected by burnout
Improving Physician Wellness
The United Health Foundation provided a three-year, $3 million grant to the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation to create a new program to train 200 family physicians to lead change for improved clinician well-being in their practices and organizations.
“The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the need to improve wellness among physicians, in addition to how inequities and racism have an impact on our overall health,” said Dr. Amy Nguyen Howell, senior national medical director at Optum Care, a UnitedHealth Group company. “Our support for the AAFP and its Leading Physician Well-being program reflects our steadfast commitment to equity, inclusion and diversity by improving physician well-being and the quality of patient care.”
Participants selected to participate in the program benefit from virtual meetings, seminars, conferences, webinars and small-group breakout sessions focused on physician well-being, leadership development and performance improvement. They also complete two projects throughout the course of the program — one personal and one organizational — with ongoing support from mentors.
Meet two members of the program’s inaugural cohort of 100 family physicians:
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In her dual role, Dr. Sucheta Doshi, medical director and physician, Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System, sees first-hand the pressures physicians are facing during the COVID-19 pandemic. “As a result, many physicians are leaving the workforce, which places an incredibly larger workload burden on those who stay behind,” she said.
During the physician wellness training program, Dr. Doshi started and inspired others to begin a daily gratitude practice. In addition, she offered lunchtime wellness education workshops and created resources for employees in service areas physician burnout and turnover were highest: primary care, psychiatry, medicine and surgery.
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Dr. Angela Rodgers, teaching faculty, family physician, Department of Emergency Medicine, Contra Costa Regional Medical Center, works with patients and trains resident physicians on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the physician wellness training program, she started a daily yoga practice to enhance her personal well-being. This served as a useful foundation for her organizational project, which was to create networking and mentoring opportunities among resident physicians and faculty members who identify as members of the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) community. “Already, event attendees have reported improved wellness scores,” said Dr. Rodgers. “Best of all, we’ve started to build a community of people who identify as BIPOC.”
Within a month of completing the physician wellness training program, Dr. Rodgers began thinking through ways to roll it out to other areas of the medical center.
Go Deeper
Center for Clinician Advancement
The Center for Clinician Advancement offers many personal and professional development resources that UnitedHealth Group makes available to clinicians as it works to build a modern, high-performing health system.
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