doc
Spring 2016 • Kentucky
companies or insurance companies and others
may be pursuing leadership roles in larger
organizations. I have watched others become
withdrawn and seemingly lose their compassion and caring attitude. Their personalities
seem to change and they become negative
and bitter. Some struggle with their relations
at home and others struggle with depression
and substance abuse. Some, it seems, manage
to find the positive and adapt to the changing
environment without missing a step. I think
those are the ones with a healthy outlook
on the current situation and a good support
system around them. They are optimists and
seem to ‘look at the glass half full’. Many have a
good sense of humor to get them through difficult times. Those who are well-adjusted and
have a good support system seem to adjust and
cope better with the changes that are taking
place in medicine.”
Regarding our responsibility to train and
educate residents and medical students and
properly prepare them for careers in medicine,
he believes medical schools should incorporate
more self-care skill development into the formal curriculum.
“I think some of the work restrictions in
residency (although controversial) may help
residents set limits on what physicians can do
and can’t do while keeping the patient’s safety
and best interest in mind. I think we should
start earlier in our careers with developing coping mechanisms to deal with stress.”
Since most of today’s physicians are products of a system that did not offer them such
training, organizations like Lexington Clinic
and the Lexington Medical Society are taking
seriously their responsibility to help preserve
the compassionate service ethic that leads
most of us to choose medicine as a career.
There is every reason to believe that resourceful physicians and physician organizations will
find skillful and effective ways to take good
care of ourselves, our colleagues, our families,
our patients and our communities.
About the Author
John A Patterson MD, MSPH, FAAFP chairs
the Lexington Medical Society’s Physician
Wellness Commission, is past president of the
Kentucky Academy of Family Physicians and
is board certified in family medicine and integrative holistic medicine. He is on the family
practice faculty at the University of Kentucky
College of Medicine, Saybrook University’s
School of Integrative Medicine and Health
Sciences (San Francisco) and the Center for
Mind Body Medicine (Washington, DC). After
30 years in private family practice in Irvine
KY, he now operates the Mind Body Studio in
Lexington, where he offers integrative medicine
consultations specializing in mindfulness-based
approaches to stress-related chronic conditions
and burnout prevention for helping professionals. He can be reached through his website
at www.mindbodystudio.org
25