Two Doctors Discuss Burnout

Burnout among clinicians and physicians is a long-acknowledged problem with potentially dire consequences. The leading causes are workplace stressors such as workload, long hours, the burden of patient-related decisions, and patient mortality.

Dr. Riva Robinson, a physician and holistic nutrition coach, was inspired to find ways of healing for both herself and her patients after facing burnout. She first experienced burnout during medical school, where pressure and self-doubt plagued her. She felt her training focused too little on wellness as a goal. The medical health services available to her at school were inadequate, and she was told, ”Oh, well, this is normal . . . if this continues we might start some Prozac or some type of antidepressant to help you out.”

In her second year of residency, she resigned. “And that’s when the healing really began,” says Dr. Robinson, who eventually found the type of medical education she wanted with the Institute for Functional Medicine.

Dr. Georgia Tetlow has a patient care practice and a mentoring practice for clinicians in transition to a functional medicine model where she emphasizes self-care as a key to stress reduction at work. She believes it’s vital for providers to put in place a system of cross coverage for staff so they feel comfortable calling in sick or taking time off if facing a major life event. She faced an emotionally draining miscarriage of twins yet didn’t miss a day of work. From that experience she learned the importance of “feeling safe that if I needed to not be there, everything is going to be taken care of.”

“I can remember a lot of other things throughout the day, but do I remember those joys and pleasures?”

Dr. Tetlow says the clinical manager at her practice is friendly, approachable, and accessible. “That’s a very important skill to choose in my employee staff member who’s managing others,” she says. She has also initiated daily group meditations in her practice and there is regular communication among the providers where tough issues are discussed, such as maintaining healthy boundaries with patients.

Dr. Robinson, whose practice is solo, recommends that providers of functional medicine in a telemedicine space develop a tribe of mentors, both in and outside of medicine, who can give perspective on problems. She says the COVID-19 pandemic has raised unique stressors in her practice, requiring some restructuring. “I wouldn’t have been able to do that had I not had some people in some of the personal development programs that I’ve done who I could turn to.” She has also developed an anchoring routine which involves various daily practices including journaling and stretching/yoga.

Dr. Robinson emphasizes that patient outcomes are affected if their clinicians are burnt out. “We’re not able to see this person, the human. We’re not able to relate to them. We’re not able to see those subtle signs that we normally would if we were connected to our own spirit. “

Dr. Tetlow finds that planning her day to include quiet time in the morning, a lunch break that isn’t rushed, meditation, breathing awareness, exercise, and going to bed on time helps center her. She also makes a point of trying to remember the good things that happen every day. "I can remember a lot of other things throughout the day, but do I remember those joys and pleasures?"