Challenge
How many times, while flying, do you ignore the flight attendant giving safety instructions? You might be busy sending that last email, giving your staff on the ground some last-minute instructions or reading a book. You get the idea, but you may be missing an important safety instruction:
Secure Your Own Oxygen Mask Before Assisting Others!
Learning to take care of their own needs is often counterintuitive for physicians. After all, most physicians enter medicine because they want to help others, and often they don’t think of themselves. Flight attendants give these instructions because we must take care of ourselves before we take care of others. This is a basic, fundamental aspect of having a rich and rewarding life.
Solutions
Let’s first consider what constitutes a healthy lifestyle, one that will enable you to “walk the talk” of a healthy and balanced life, yet still have time to be a doctor.
We all know that physicians lead incredibly busy lives and often struggle to maintain their own health – in mind, body and spirit. This module addresses mindfulness, or awareness, as well as your emotional wellbeing, before moving on to weight, nutrition and fitness.
Mindfulness and Meditation
(Krasner, M. S., Epstein, R. M., Beckman, H., Suchman, A. L.,Chapman, B., Mooney, C. J., & Quill, T. E. (2009). Association of an educational program in mindful communication with burnout, empathy, and attitudes among primary care physicians. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 302(12), 1284-1293.)
Use these resources to learn more about the practice of mindfulness:
Focus on Yourself
Wellness for Trainees
These wellness websites for physicians in training can be utilized by those in practice as well.