Our CME Health Cruises cater to medical practitioners of all types, and we understand how the field of medicine demands plenty of responsibilities. When it comes to providing healthcare for patients, juggling various clinical tasks can be taxing, and more often than not, physicians are asked to go above and beyond what they are expected to do as medical practitioners. The constant stress and frustration that comes from overwhelming workloads and alienating data-input focused health records can lead to lasting detrimental effects, such as physical illness (headaches, impaired memory, etc) and emotional distress (feelings of helplessness, anxiety, cynicism, etc.).

According to this 2019 report by Medscape, about 44% of medical practitioners are burnt out, while 11% are colloquially depressed and a discomforting 4% are clinically depressed. These statistics are disturbing, but as the new decade is ushered in, the chance to remedy this systemic dissatisfaction might be possible.

 

EHR’s and Individual Ways to Combat Burnout

 

Burnout is not exclusively suffered by practitioners of medicine. Office personnel and other blue-collar workers can also suffer from burnout. However, in the case of physicians, burnout is exacerbated by many factors exclusive to the field of medicine. Electronic health records (EHRs), for example, contribute to the depersonalizing effect of burnout in medical practitioners. While electronic health records can provide quick diagnoses and are a step up from paper-based medical records, they contribute a significant amount to physician stress and disillusionment. According to the above report, electronic health records contribute around 32% to physician burnout. Considering the focus of electronic health records on inputting data over patient care, reducing the amount of time they spend with patients. Within the workplace, making each moment you spend with your patient matter can reduce feelings of depersonalization, while also providing your patients with quality care that can outweigh the lack of quantity. Outside the workplace, a physician can engage in different health-building activities, such as jogging to remedy their stressed selves.

 

Group Ways for a Complex Solution

 


While exercise cannot cure the larger issues of physician exhaustion, small steps to rebuilding oneself are not useless, and can also be done as a group. You and your fellow physicians don’t have to deal with burnout alone. You can organize a group activity off-hours, like karaoke night. You could even join a cme river cruise. Simply put, making connections and facilitating conversation can do wonders in the long run, and while burnout is a pervasive issue in healthcare, dealing with it is not hopeless, especially when you are with friends or loved ones.