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IN THIS ARTICLE Physicians are said to be data-driven. However, their behavior frequently is at adds with this belief. Physicians often protest when presented with unfavorable data, complaining that the data are not applicable to them. Take a look behind this behavior., IN MY ROLE AS THE quality medical liaison, I am the physician responsible for interfacing between the quality management department and the medical staff. Part of this job includes developing [...]

KEY CONCEPTS * Getting Fired or Laid Off * Reasons for Being Fired * Exit Strategy * Leaving on Good Terms Who gets fired in a boom job market? People are fired more often for things they failed to do than for mistakes they made. The new rules of engagement are: There is no probationary period; resistance to technology is a quick ticket out; a lock of emotional commitment to the role you're hired to play is usually fatal; personality defects that keep others from producing are not tolerated. The most common reason for being fired, however, is lack of fit. Whether you're laid off or fired, don't ask for explanations. The fact is, the people with the power to get rid of you don't want you to stay. What matters is maximizing what they'll do for you on departure. To get the most favorable terms with the least financial and ego damage, here's a game plan: (1) Get a favorable reference--in writing--from your boss; (2) gather work samples and goad performance appraisals you've received; (3) negotiate for as much severance pay as possible; (4) negotiate for outplacement assistance; (5) gather contact names from co-workers ; and (6) leave in style., FOR MOST PHYSICIANS, getting fired seems catastrophic. It isn't. Nor does it have lasting career effects unless you have had a series of firings, in which case you need to [...]

David White in The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of Soul in Corporate America explores ways for professionals to take their souls to work, instead of checking them at the door. 'We simply spend too much time and have too much psychic and emotional energy invested in the workplace for us to declare it a spiritual desert bereft of life-giving water.' Several ideas are presented to help physician executives preserve their souls in an increasingly corporatized U.S. health care system: (1) Figure out what you are meant to do as your life's calling; (2) know what you think and want; (3) share some of what you think at work, while being careful to not lose your job unless you choose to; (4) be a trustworthy listener and find one; (5) get yourself outside; (6) pay attention to your physical space; and (7) develop some new hobbies or refresh old ones. 'One of the disciplines of building a rich soul life seems to be the simple act, on a daily basis, of remembering what is most important to us.', KEY CONCEPTS * Preserving Your Soul in Corporate America * Discovering Your Life's Calling * Infusing Meaning into Work * Being Creative in the Workplace * Building a Rich Soul [...]

Richard L. Reece, MD, interviewed David Whyte, a poet, consultant, and author of The Heart Aroused, on December 15, 1999, to discuss preserving the soul of physicians in corporate America. David describes the soul as 'a measure of our belonging in the world. When there is little sense of belonging, there is very little sense of soul.' In the workplace, he thinks about whether 'people have a sense of belonging to the particular work or the organization.' He talks about life in the upper world of the workplace and life in the dark subterranean caves where the soul lives. The soul is where people's true creativity and imagination resides... and by inviting it into the workplace, organizations and employees can become more successful, innovative, and adaptable. In corporate settings, he uses poetry to bring an understanding of the process of change, helping clients to understand individual and organizational creativity to transform the workplace. The poetry can teach and touch those places that the corporate lang uage cannot speak to., KEY CONCEPTS * Nurturing the Soul * Belonging in the World * Bringing Your Soul to Work * Following Your Personal Destiny * The Voice and Spirit of Medicine * [...]

Stress is an integral and, indeed, a necessary part of our daily lives. We all work under stress to a greater or lesser degree. Without some stress, we would not [...]

In the March-April 1992 issue of Physician Executive, the authors described the six transitions that are required for a successful management career. In the second part of the two-part article, [...]

After five years of study, newly qualified doctors may find it hard to realise that much of their future development will involve loss. They will go on gathering information and [...]

Some of the pressure you expected--the grueling hours, the patients who never seem to get better, the days that deliver a surfeit of bad news. But now it's worse than [...]

Physician stress and burnout is commonly discussed in the context of physicians in trouble. What I would like to focus on here is not the troubled physician but the prevention [...]

We address the questions, How do physicians adjust to and enjoy their retirement? What factors contribute to the well-being of retired physicians? A 60-item questionnaire mailed to 238 retired physicians in Los Angeles County with a 41.6% response rate assessed health, standard of living, relationships, activities, emotional difficulties, and general enjoyment. Health often improved after retirement, as did relationships with spouses and children. Standard of living was comfortable or better for most. Retired physicians engage in a wide range of interests and activities. Emotional difficulties are minimal and considerably reduced after retirement. Most physicians enjoy the freedom and activities of retirement and are happy. Fears of boredom and deterioration are unfounded., Whereas retirement a generation ago was scarcely considered an alternative except when physically mandated, today more and more physicians, disturbed by the increasingly onerous atmosphere of medical practice, are thinking [...]

Byline: Joe Conn Editor In baseball, it's called hanging a curve. In human relations, it's a gaffe, a faux pas, a groaner. Typically, a single loose pitch-or lip-won't ruin a [...]

As the northern hemisphere departs on its holidays, workload is the issue that just won't go away. First there are some myths to scotch. David Mechanic tries to disentangle the [...]

Calibre of people recruited to medicine may he too high for the job EDITOR--As an economist who has spent the past 30 years looking at health care all round the [...]

There are probably many causes, some of them deep Doctors are unhappy. They are not all unhappy all the time, but when doctors gather, their conversation turns to misery and [...]

Summary points * Personal reflection can promote physician well-being * Discussion groups on existential and spiritual topics in medicine are well attended and greatly appreciated by both faculty and resident [...]

Summary points * Individuals and programs that promote physician well-being can be identified in any geographic area * A regional center for physician well-being can articulate a vision that unifies, [...]

Imagine you are assisting during an operation. The surgeon is having difficulty tying off a bleeding artery. His brow is sweating and hands are taut as he requests a damp. [...]

The 5 key elements of healthy leadership INTRODUCTION My hypothesis is that the qualities that produce well-being among physicians in today's health care environment are synonymous with the qualities that [...]

Summary points * While external factors causing distress in health care organizations are well recognized, there is less appreciation of the powerful adverse effects of internal factors, such as leadership, [...]

BACKGROUND Canada has seen its health care system undergo significant reorganization over the past decade. In the mid to late 1990s, Canadian physicians identified 4 pressures that were contributing to [...]

The sheer volume of work and competing demands on their time are causing worrying levels of burn out and stress among Britain's senior hospital doctors and GPs, according to a [...]

The doctor who makes the mistake needs help too When I was an intern, a resident failed to identify the electrocardiographic signs of the pericardial tamponade that would rush the [...]

Most doctors whose patients asked them about drugs they had seen advertised in the media felt under pressure to prescribe them, according to a telephone poll reported at the annual [...]

I recently received a letter about the retirement of a senior partner in a group medical practice: 'Fortunately,' it said, 'he is able to retire from medicine with his health [...]

It may not be your checkbook, but your chi that needs a little balancing. Physicians having trouble finding inner harmony in this era of assembly-line medicine take heart. A conference [...]

I read an article by a diabetologist last week, in which he claimed that in the next millennium diabetes would remain one of the most intellectually satisfying of all illnesses, [...]

EDITOR--Haas's observation that few junior doctors witness peaceful expected death mirrors my own experience in a district general hospital.[1] I am frequently involved in both suggesting and confirming that a [...]

Countless studies of the levels and sources of stress in doctors have taken place in the UK over the past 20 years. My own longitudinal study, begun with students in [...]

With the introduction of competitive forces and concommitant changes in health care reimbursement programs, physicians are experiencing profound disruption in their personal expectations and career plans. This article proposes that [...]

Junior house officers have traditionally been the most distressed doctors in the health service.[1] Recently, however, there have been reports of significant psychological morbidity in senior doctors such as hospital [...]

I never thought I would distribute flyers about a special Western Journal of Medicine subscription offer at the clinical research meetings in Carmel. But we are trying to increase subscriptions, [...]

I learnt about customer relations as a schoolboy doing a holiday job in a London ice cream bar, serving in the shop and helping backstage. On the back of the [...]

It is always a mistake to complain about the circumstances of our life, for they are the outward expression of what we are ourselves. The Mother of Pondicherry SRI AUROBINDO(1) [...]

Nursing shortages continue to plague many of the nation's hospitals and medical clinics. It's hard to find good nurses these days and even more difficult to keep them. That's why [...]

Your August issue contained three very interesting articles that touched on the following topics: the medical malpractice crisis; shortages of nurses and other healthcare personnel; and abuses of residents-in-training. I [...]

The comment arched obliquely across the discussion and slightly winded me with its weight of unspoken assumptions: 'Of course, nurses are not doctors' handmaidens, you know.' I blinked and spluttered [...]

I dislike much the habit that many young practitioners form, namely, that of vaunting some one article of medicine as a specific for a certain disease. Specifics, we have none, [...]

Three years after qualifying two thirds of women doctors and a quarter of men want to train flexibly. At the same time one in five young doctors had spent time [...]

Abstract Objective To compare the use of some of the characteristics of male and female language by male and female primary care practitioners during consultations. Design Doctors' use of the [...]

The range of sexual dysfunctions encountered in gay men and lesbians is the same as that found in men and women in general, and the skills needed to help them [...]

CASE It was one of those days. Dr. X realized that he had been hating his work all day long. He hated dealing with the patients who were sick and [...]