Latest / Faisel and Friends: A Primary Care Podcast / Ep. 2 Bonus: Physician Burnout and Leadership
Transcript
- Dr. Faisel Syed [00:00:00] Many doctors feel helpless. They're a cog in the wheel with little to no say. They're swamped with all the bureaucracy, the liability burden, and reduced reimbursements. How can we, as physicians, lead the country toward a better healthcare delivery system? Dr. Jack Cochran [00:00:15] And that's a very complex question. A simple answer would be this is an issue that we have ignored for too long. Career, vitality, and career satisfaction and burnout. They're an issue that has been growing and worsening for a long time, and we have to treat this very seriously, very much like any other scientific problem. What is the clear identification of the problem? How do we analyze it? How do we look at best practices? Are we getting better? It's been ignored for too long. I think it's a very serious situation. Some of the structural things that I see that have worked well is when physicians go from solo isolated small practices into group practices where they can have colleagues and investment and support and also compensation systems because of a fight and a struggle over fee for service are very difficult and very challenging for patients and for patients and for physicians. So I think physicians have to continue to opt in around what the issues are that face patients and understand that broader accountability is important. And so to think about how do you structure your life for that? And that's, you know, group practices in ways that you can be more effective and more supportive. And then, in those group practices, you can develop lots of learning solutions and answers. And so I think that's important. Dr. Faisel Syed [00:01:28] Physician leaders are, first and foremost, healers. They have to struggle with balancing being a doctor and learning something. We weren't taught leadership skills. It's one thing to lead teams of physicians. I'm even talking about leading individual members of the care team, your front desk, the medical assistant, nurses. What's some advice you can give to physicians about steps they can take toward learning those skills? Dr. Jack Cochran [00:01:55] Leadership is really not just training, although training can help us become better leaders. Leadership is a commitment. It's a frame of reference. It's a state of mind which says True North. True North for me is my commitment to the trusting relationship with my patients. And so, therefore, whomever else I'm dealing with in my team or in my organization, whether it's a nurse, an assistant, another physician, I.T., finance, I have that sense of true north. And so my opinion is going to be based on what's best for the patient, and I'm going to lean in and opt in to provide those points of view. Sometimes we have to be assertive and demanding, but often we have to learn and listen and develop good teams. So physician leadership is a bit of a craft and something that can be learned over time, but it's something we must never abdicate. So what's important is to say, I understand it's a commitment. It's part of the, but really it's part of the covenant of the trusted relationship. And then I'm going to learn and to develop, and I'm actually going to embrace leadership training and leadership development.