Physician Turned Writer Reflects on Burnout and Strikes a Chord

 

Diane Shannon, MD, stopped practicing medicine 17 years ago and recently wrote a blog post to describe her feelings about being a doctor, her daily experience as an internist, and her decision to focus instead on medical writing.

 

I am a regular reader of WBUR’s CommonHealth Blog, so I would likely have seen Shannon’s post in any event, but it caught my eye especially because I’ve published three articles she wrote for PSQH. She’s an excellent writer, which is part of the reason why her CommonHealth post has been on the site’s Most Popular list for weeks and has attracted so much attention, including nearly 300 comments.

Shannon clearly has struck a chord with her reflections. In addition to not having enough time with individual patients—despite working long hours—and worrying to the point of sleeplessness about all the things that might go wrong in any patient’s care, Shannon describes the lack compassion and support she felt from clinical colleagues at difficult times. She is encouraged that physician burnout is attracting attention, that some solutions have been identified, and that there is now better support for physicians available from organizations such as the Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare. In addition to the blog post, WBUR’s website offers an interview with Shannon that first appeared on Radio Boston.

 

Shannon’s articles for PSQH include:

 

Nurse-to-Physician Communications: Connecting for Safety

 

Team Training in Obstetrics: Improving Care by Learning to Work Together

 

How a Captive Insurer Uses Data and Incentives to Advance Patient Safety