As a specialist in physician health,
I'm excited to introduce this issue's extraordinary
section on wellness (see pages 13-17). Although we doctors
are generally bright people, we don't always 'think
smart' when it comes to our own health. I was reminded
of this last week when one of my physician patients
blind-sided me by asking "Are you okay? You seem kind
of preoccupied today." My knee-jerk response was "I'm
fine" — but I realized immediately that I was lying.
I was actually in a lot of pain from a recent running
injury. I quickly reversed myself and told him the truth.
When my session with him ended, I called my family doctor
and made an appointment to see him later that day.
The biennial International Conference
on Physician Health was held in Ottawa from November
30-December 2, 2006. I've been attending these meetings
for years and they get better and better. As a member
of the Advisory Board to the CMA Centre on Physician
Health and Well-Being, I'm fortunate to be on the planning
committee. The final program was diverse and covered
many themes that are relevant to our everyday professional
and personal lives: boundary issues in the doctor-patient
relationship, disruptive behaviour in the workplace,
doctors as patients, substance abuse, psychiatric illnesses,
suicide, family matters, challenges for aging physicians,
health promotion and healthy workplaces, and much more.
This special section is chock full
of articles that are specifically written for us. I
urge you to take the time to read them. Even if some
of the ideas and recommendations are familiar, accept
that most of us need to hear things several times to
'get it.' Remember that we tend to give better care
to our patients than we give to ourselves. Make 2007
the year that you protect more time for yourself and
your loved ones. You won't regret it. And good luck!
Dr Michael Myers is a clinical
professor of psychiatry at UBC. He is co-author (with
Glen Gabbard) of the forthcoming book The Physician-Patient:
A Clinical Handbook.
|
