With all the challenges, stress, and changes you face every day, it can be difficult to reclaim the joy of medical practice. In truth, feelings of exhaustion, stress, and disillusionment have grown in recent years. According to one study, at the end of 2021, about 63% of physicians reported symptoms of burnout, up from 38% in 2020.
At Reclaiming Our Joy: Medicine as a Life, Not a Job, a session at PALTC24, Fatima Sheikh, MD, MPH, CMD, offered some tips for reclaiming your joy:
- Protect your passion. Don’t let people or experiences diminish what you feel passionate about.
- Practice kindness.
- Preserve autonomy and accountability from start to finish.
- Practice self-forgiveness.
- Pursue innovative approaches to empower self and others to manage things.
Dr. Sheikh also mentioned some common ways to cope with stress: exercising, getting more sleep, and spending time with family and friends. She admitted that it can be challenging to find time for these endeavors. However, they can be effective even in small doses. For instance, a quick phone call with a friend who always makes you laugh, five minutes of Facetime with your child, or a walk around the block.
It helps to understand that joy is defined as a short-term emotion evoked by a sense of well-being, success, or good fortune. This is different from happiness, which is considered to be a more long-term emotion. By focusing on joy, you can appreciate and gain positive feelings from different things throughout the day. For instance, you can find joy from an uplifting conversation with a resident or a compliment from a colleague. You also can experience joy from your actions, such as a kind word to someone having a tough day or not second-guessing or obsessing about a decision you made. The latter can be challenging. As Dr. Sheikh noted, “Self-forgiveness is hard. We often strive for perfection.” You also can get joy from treating yourself with a bowl of your favorite ice cream, a few minutes listening to your favorite music, or, when possible, a day off just for you.
Dr. Sheikh stressed that joy is possible. “We can create joy. We are empowered to create it.” Ultimately, she observed, “We just need enough moments of joy to feel happy.”