Wellness is highly topical at the moment. However, although a lot has been said about it, there has been remarkably little practical, structured advice and strategies for doctors to engage with to help protect themselves from burnout and becoming unwell. This workshop will address this by detailing twelve specific behaviours or practices that have been shown to promote wellness in individuals and reduce the incidence of burnout and depression/anxiety. This will be done in a small group discussion format with specific examples from the presenter’s experience to highlight key learning points.
Key concepts that will be explored:
- Firstly, that medicine is a high-performance endeavour and a career in it is not a sprint but a long term undertaking.
- Secondly, you cannot treat patients to the best of your ability and perform at a high level if you yourself are not well.
- Thirdly, these protective behaviours are skills and like any other skill need to be practiced over time to be effective.
The areas covered are evidence based and will include (among others) scheduling, gratitude journaling, epithets from stoic philosophy, self-compassion, compassion training, emotional intelligence, self-distancing, meditation, financial wellness, reflection, goal setting and asking for help.
Outcomes
After this workshop, participants will have an improved understanding of the continuum of wellness to burnout and the importance of developing practices to keep them well. They will be able to select from a range of specific practices presented to enable them to do this. Critically they will understand the concept that developing these skills will make them a better doctor and ultimately lead to improved patient care.
CPD: Educational Activities (EA) – 3.5 hours
