Talking about wellness and preventing burnout is much easier than successfully doing it.
It’s no wonder that burn out is so prevalent among the medical community, where high-stress scenarios partner with demanding schedules and an ever-shifting array of additional responsibilities. Finding ways to safeguard wellbeing that fit with this lifestyle can be tricky. Preventing burnout also requires individuals to think critically about wellbeing, relaxation and what de-stressing looks like, because wellness looks different to everyone. Sometimes it’s meditation. Sometimes it’s sitting quietly in your office.
IR Quarterly asked members of the SIR Wellness and Burnout Committee to share their own tips for combatting burnout and prioritizing their own wellness, from organizing their schedules to facing down acute stress.
Reflect on the day
Jonathan Gross, MD
Balancing life at work with life outside of work, maintaining hobbies and interests, and meditating (if you’re into that kind of thing) are all important strategies to prevent burnout. But the schedule in a busy interventional radiology practice is often unpredictable, and sometimes there just isn’t time to prioritize one’s own well-being.
When that happens, I try to set aside at least 2 minutes at the end of each day to think of an experience that made that day more meaningful. Maybe it was a nice interaction with a patient, or a discussion with a colleague, or a case that went well.
Reflecting on one meaningful experience each day reminds me of the importance of what we do and helps me to get through busy, stressful times.
Accept that we’re human
Ali Abbas Saifuddin, MD
Selfcare is one of the most important things we, as interventional radiologists, can do for our personal and professional growth and fulfilment. After all, we cannot take care of our patients without taking care of ourselves first. The most important thing I have picked up during residency is to accept that mistakes happen, but also to learn from every mistake, whether small or large.
Healthy body, healthy mind
Jaimin D. Shah, MD
I don’t think there’s one simple answer to preventing burnout; what works for some may not work for others.
In the beginning, figuring out what worked for me was a bit of trial and error, but exercise has played a large role in my overall mental and physical wellness. I use exercise to define goals that I work towards and always leave a workout feeling more energized than when I started. It has really given me something to focus on and work toward that is completely unrelated to my career.
Prioritize time off
Barbara Nickel Hamilton, MD
In my opinion, it is important to recognize that we entered a demanding profession, so wellness and burnout are something to surveil and manage rather than fear or deny.
I’ve realized that taking a week of emergency call at a clip (and carrying a full-time physician schedule in general) means that I need a lot more time than the average person to rest. As a result, vacation time is very important to me, whether it’s used to catch up on tasks at home, or to actually “get away.” This time off is key to making the burden of night and weekend work sustainable.
However, now that my leadership responsibilities have expanded, it’s becoming harder to truly step away from work for a week at a time. I’m learning a new personal balance and hoping to develop new strategies to counterbalance my new roles and responsibilities.
Make things manageable
Daniel Veyg
Burnout is, unfortunately, ubiquitous. As a medical student applying to IR this year, it feels like there is almost always some type of activity to be a part of.
My personal approach to burnout during this very busy time is threefold. First, striving to be present and having “Wow, this is real life happening now” moments allow me to appreciate and feel that every endeavor is a positive contribution—either toward my future or someone else’s. Second, scheduling even a small amount of alone time helps me recharge to tackle the next week’s goals. Finally, breaking said goals into short-term chunks instead of massive, long-term mountains to climb makes things seem a lot more manageable and less overwhelming in the moment.
Practice breathing exercises
Drew M. Caplin, MD, FSIR
When stressful things happen at work, your typical stress reduction techniques may not be viable—from walking the dog, to working out, to spending time with friends and family. These approaches may help us recharge in the long term, but we need something else we can turn to in moments of acute stress at the workplace. If possible, it’s best to remove yourself for the moment so you can reset yourself mentally and physically and there are several strategies I use to do this.
While I’m fortunate enough to have an office where I can turn off my lights and reset, these techniques can be done anywhere. I am not an expert on them, but I have found that with practice, they require less than 5 minutes to reset yourself to bring your clear your mind and decrease your heart rate, blood pressure and respiratory rate.
Box breathing
Box breathing, also known as the Navy SEAL breathing technique, or tactical breathing, is a simple and effective way to regain calm and control of your thoughts under stress.
- Inhale for 4 seconds.
- Hold your lungs full for 4 seconds.
- Exhale for 4 seconds.
- Hold your lungs empty for 4 seconds.
The 3 5s
The second technique is a variation on the 5 senses exercise, which is used to reorient yourself to your surroundings and help you regain focus and calm. The goal is to sit quietly and focus on 3 of your 5 senses. For example:
- Look around and identify 5 things that you can see.
- Close your eyes and identify 5 things you can hear.
- Identify 5 things you can feel (e.g., the fabric of your clothes, the smoothness of the table, the movement of your foot, or the blinking of your eyes).
