Physician Wellness and Resilience

Pauline Davies is Professor of Practice and teaches human communication at Arizona State University. Specializing in cancer research outreach, she is also an award-winning former BBC science and health broadcaster.Dr Cynthia M. Stonnington is an award-winning psychiatrist, educator, and wellness expert at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. She directed the psychiatry and psychology department for ten years.

• PART I Student life1. InsightDepression, career choice, identity management, privacy2. AnxietyAnxiety, help-seeking, privacy3. Coping with Medical School LifeWork-life integration, perfectionism, failure, empathy4. A Medical School Dean’s PerspectiveLearning environment, career choice, role modelsPART II Culture of Medicine5. The Brunt of AngerMedical hierarchy, bullying6. Competition, Balance, and HappinessCompetition, suicide, prioritizing values7. Suicide and DisenchantmentSuicide response and prevention, grief, stigmaPART III Practice Challenges8. Medication ErrorMedical errors, shame, humility, peer support9. Commitment, Challenge, and ControlResilience, setting boundaries, career change, life lessons10. When Certainty Is WrongSharing bad news with patients, when doctor is patient11. Colleagues, Privacy, and EmpathyPrivacy, workplace behavior, when doctor is patientPART IV Career/Life Disruptions12. Accident, Fear of Depression, and a Great CareerDepression, interrupted training, resilience, career choice, relative with mental illness13. Childhood in Foster CareResilience, depression, help-seeking, relative with mental illness14. From War-Torn Childhood to Life as a Foreign Medical GraduateResilience, role models, acculturation, racism15. Empathizing with Mentally Ill PeopleEmpathy, relative with mental illness, expressing emotions at workPART V Women in Medicine16. Infertile and FulfilledFertility, resilience17. Finding Balance with Kids and CareerMotherhood, women in medicine, giving bad news, insecurities at work18. Motherhood in TrainingFamily planning, work-life integration, grief19. Regrets and DedicationSex discrimination, bullying, infertility, fulfillmentPART VI COVID-1920. Family Life in Covid Timesmedicine as a calling, work-life integration, family support21. The COVID-19 ExperienceUncertainty, witnessing death22. COVID-19, the AftermathBurnout, depression, career changePART VII Burnout23. LeadershipOverwork, grief, suicide, leadership behavior24. Pain Clinic Doctor’s DespairMoral injury, patient behavior, leadership behavior, opioid crisisPART VIII Addiction25. Road to RecoveryAddiction, guilt and shame, accountability, recovery26. Practicing Medicine in the Grasp of AddictionAddiction, suicide attempt, accountability, recklessness, recovery

“Conversations with colleagues characterized by candor and vulnerability lay the foundation for trust-filled and supportive peer connections. These thoughtful, powerful, and authentic real-life stories can serve as the foundation for enduring resilience, healing, and culture change. This will make a difference for the good.”Stephen Swensen, MD, author of Mayo Clinic Strategies to Reduce Burnout: 12 Actions to Create the Ideal Workplac, former director of Leadership and Organization Development, Mayo Clinic, professor emeritus, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science“Much more than wellness lectures, pizza parties, or research reports, stories have a unique way of helping us feel seen and less alone. This is particularly needed in healthcare, where we look around and think everyone else is 'fine' because of a culture of stigma and silence. This book is not only grounded in our narratives, but it also helps teach through them, and that combination is unique and needed.”Jessi Gold, MD, MS, chief wellness officer of the University of Tennessee System and author of How Do You Feel?“This book is an extraordinarily moving compilation of stories told by courageous, caring and very human physicians. Accounts of struggle, growth and resilience illuminate the complex inner lives of doctors as they navigate work, family, health and personal challenges. The facilitator guide offers a practical roadmap for using these stories to build community and connection through discussion groups and workshops. I highly recommend this book to physicians, to those who work with or care about physicians, and to anyone seeking to better understand the complex experience of people working in health care today.”Susannah Rowe, MD, MPH, FACS, associate chief medical officer for Wellness and Professional Vitality, Boston Medical Center“Stories frame our experience. They also inform our personal and collective journeys of healing and wellbeing. This book’s collection of authentic narratives is a vital resource for all physicians, whether in training or in practice.”Mark F. Carroll, MD, FAAP, chief medical officer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona Medicaid Plans“A highly valuable set of deeply raw, humbling and relatable narratives of life as a physician. These important stories with prompts will help medical trainees and physicians at any stage reflect on their lives, systems of care, and ways to mitigate suffering and improve wellness.”Sallie G. De Golia, MD, MPH, training director, Adult Psychiatry Residency Program, Stanford University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences“Physician Wellness and Resilience: Narrative Prompts to Address Burnout is a valuable and original contribution to the literature on physician well-being. The stories told are honest, moving, and relatable. I will find tremendous comfort in reading and discussing these narratives with my colleagues and my students.”Liz Lawrence, MD, director, Annual Taos Writing and Wellness Retreat for Health Care Professionals, former chief wellness officer and assistant dean for Professional Well-being, University of New Mexico School of Medicine“Experience a profound journey through the poignant narratives shared in Physician Wellness and Resilience: Narrative Prompts to Address Burnout. With unflinching honesty, doctors from diverse backgrounds unveil their personal trials, offering invaluable insights and prompting reflection. This book not only nurtures self-care and peer connections but also serves as a valuable resource to reflect on one’s well-being and personal resilience.”Jennifer Berliner, MD, MBA, director, Physician Well-Being, UPMC Health System“As an executive storytelling coach, I firsthand know the transformative power of stories. This book has taken that to heart; it is filled with gripping, moving, and inspiring stories that shine a new light on the lived experiences of some doctors. This is not just a book for doctors or those in health professions, this is a book for anyone wanting to understand, experience, and live through the lives of others. I cannot recommend it enough!”Anca Castillo, Co-CEO of DesignConvo LLC