
"Hi. I am Phil DiGiacomo and I am a burned-out physician."
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"Hi. I am Phil DiGiacomo and I am a burned-out physician."
This was a reality that took me years to realize. I worked in the ER for ten years and these are all of the things that I tried to counteract the feelings of burnout that I experienced:
· I changed jobs three times in 5 years. Each job was in a new state.
· I worked full and part-time at an urgent care
· I worked part-time at a rural hospital with a low annual patient volume
· I was a clinical preceptor for Physician Assistant students
· I worked more night shifts because the pay was better
· I worked less night shifts because I had trouble sleeping during the day afterward
· I asked to work more hours at our less busy, standalone ER
What took me a while to realize was that it wasn’t the particular hospital, patient demographics, or geographic location that made me dissatisfied, frustrated, and fried. It was the profession itself. Nothing that I did, or tried, made that better. It finally dawned on me one day when I was running that all of the negative feelings I had been experiencing toward work were burnout, or moral injury. In hindsight, I made choices that likely accelerated the process such as working night shifts only for 1.5 years right out after residency and working more shifts than was required to pay off med student loan and fertility treatment debt sooner. These choices accelerated the process but did not create it. I would have become out burnt-out eventually, no matter what I did.
I have heard from so many of you that you are battling burnout as well. This is not your fault and feeling burnout does not make you weak. Our current healthcare system does not support career longevity for medical professionals. I write posts like these to share my personal experience with burnout, tell you what has, and has not, worked to alleviate my burnout, and to establish a personal connection with you.
As always, thank you for reading.
-Phil