“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” –Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Just as the tumultuous chaos of a thunderstorm brings a nurturing rain that allows life to flourish, so too in human affairs, times of advancement are preceded by times of disorder. Success comes to those who can weather the storm.” –I Ching
These are the quotes I used to end my inaugural speech for my second year as Medical Staff President at AtlantiCare. That night, I talked about the common use of symbols of light to accompany winter holidays. These holidays fall near the Winter Solstice, the longest, darkest night of the year, but the dark is lighted by stars, candles, and flashing colored bulbs. Medicine as an industry is going through a time of radical transformation, and at times, that can feel like a long, dark night. We continue to take steps every day on life paths we have chosen, and there’s little time to consider whether that path still leads to the destination we envisioned.
The twinkling-light part, though, is that we have traveling companions on that road. In our collective physician community, we have all the strength, wisdom, knowledge, experience (and table-tennis skills) any of us will need. The question, though, is how do we overcome our fragmentation, how do we break down the walls of the silos that keep us apart in order to share all that wisdom and strength? There have always been “compartments” to place physicians into: hospital vs. office based, primary care vs. specialist, employed vs. private practice. With the advent of hospitalists and outpatient surgicare centers, many more physicians no longer step foot into the hospitals they’re affiliated with. The potential for fragmentation and isolation has become magnified.
There are some best practices out there to emulate. There are Physician Wellness programs that are not just euphemisms for programs to deal with disruptive or impaired physicians. There are programs that truly do help to assuage the burnout that frequently accompanies stress, fatigue, sleep-deprivation, and frustration. Most successful programs, however, have been home-grown, using the resources naturally available in each community. Some are based on Remen groups, some offer Schwartz rounds, others incorporate mindfulness practices. The point is, what’s going to work for us as a physician community has to be developed and led by members of this community. Our annual table-tennis tournament is actually a great example of a physician-developed and –led program that fosters connection.
So dust off those lost and forgotten skills you had from before you were a medical student, whether it was music, dance, sport, writing, crafts, board games, or book&film-discussion clubs. All can be great lifelines to your colleagues and to your own deepest self.