DOCTOR LOOK AFTER YOURSELF

"No one is an island. We are all susceptible to burnout."

This is a very important episode. It deals with physician burnout but actually equalizes us all. We can all get overwhelmed, overworked, and over stressed. Then without knowing it, we are tired, angry, unsatisfied in everything we do. I have seen it happen to every strata of society. No one is immune. Our doctors speak about this condition from various perspectives. We have an internationally renowned physician wellness expert and psychiatrist treating doctors in all specialties. We have an internist working in cancer who succumbed to this condition and bravely shares her story. And we have doctor who works with those that have the least in Ottawa while at the same time setting policy and framework to protect our health care providers at The Ottawa Hospital.

Dr. Mamta Gautam started as a psychiatrist to physicians with some serendipity. Over the years she has counseled hundreds of her colleagues in all manners of mental health issues. She has helped retrain, refocus or rebalance their lives. She has given many the opportunity to return to their profession with a new awareness of proportionality. She is highly regarded as a speaker, authour, and business woman. She left Faiza and I filled with tranquility and inspiration.

Dr. Susan Aitken started in the military, climbed to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and was awarded the Order of Military Merit. In the military she did it all: going into the bush, jumping out of planes, evacuating out casualties. She moved into oncology and was involved at high level organization for Cancer Care Ontario's precursor and the province's Breast Screening Programme. She speaks candidly and unabashedly about her burnouts. She acknowledges her mistakes and offers advice for all. After adequate treatment, she returned to medicine as a coroner for the city of Ottawa. Her story is truly one of strength, then weakness; a doctor becoming the patient, then resurrecting as the mythological phoenix.

Dr. Jeff Turnbull is more than the story about physician wellness in The Ottawa Hospital. He is past president of the Canadian Medical Association, past president of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, past president of the Medical Council of Canada. He is presently Chief of Staff of the Ottawa Hospital. He is the founder and medical director of the Ottawa Inner City Health Project. He is on call for the homeless in Ottawa! No wonder he is was awarded the Order of Canada. Warm, kind, approachable, friend to those with palaces and to those without homes. He is truly mindful of the value of life and how best to move the agenda forward in health care. He shares his thoughts in this episode.

You will learn that burnout can happen to anyone. If you need help, don't suffer silently. Ask for help. And you will learn that there are many around you that are willing to listen without judging.

I look forward to sharing their stories with you.
Humbly, Dr. A squared

To be continued...