Addressing the Crisis of Clinician Burnout — A Conversation with Tait Shanafelt

This year’s 25th Annual Reza Gandjei lecturer is Tait Shanafelt, MD. Dr. Shanafelt is the chief wellness officer, associate dean, and Jeanie and Stewart Richie Professor of Medicine at Stanford University. In addition to his clinical work as a hematologist/oncologist, he is an international thought leader in the field of physician well-being, having helped hundreds of organizations and their leaders work to decrease burnout and promote professional fulfillment for physicians. He previously served as the founding director of the Mayo Clinic Program on Physician Well-Being and currently leads the WellMD Center at Stanford. He served on the National Academy of Medicine Committee on System Approaches to Support Clinician Well-Being and now serves on the National Academy Clinician Well-Being Steering Committee.

This yearly lecture is held in memory of Reza Gandjei, a former UCSF medicine resident who died far too young. He had a particular interest in health care ethics and policy, so speakers in this series have been international experts in these topics.

Note: Closed captions will be available within 48-72 hours after posting.

Program
Bob Wachter: Introduction
00:04:39-01:12:27 – Discussion with Tait Shanafelt, MD., chief wellness officer, associate dean, Jeanie and Stewart Richie Professor of Medicine at Stanford University

See previous Medical Grand Rounds:

• February 9: ChatGPT: Will It Transform the World of Health Care?
• February 2: Covid-19 in 2023: A Conversation with White House Covid Coordinator Ashish Jha
• January 19: A Health Equity Tapestry: Weaving Research on Health, Structural Violence, Stigma, and Our Lived Experiences
• January 12: The Kardos Renal Grand Rounds: Centering the Margins to Achieve Kidney Health Equity

[nathanandanimalfriends]

Thank you for this important and timely topic. I have been a nurse for over 20 years and I am the daughter of a retired family practice physician. Burnout among healthcare providers is so profound and the pandemic only made it worse. Thank you for caring enough to address this topic

[pfishkin]

Fantastic work by speakers, who are exemplary leaders in medicine.

Thank you to Dr. Tait Shanafelt and his team at Mayo and Stanford for 20+ years of evidenced based research. The downside of physician and provider burnout--personal, professional, and organizational--are markedly underappreciated.

The last 8 minutes of the interview are especially relevant as they focus on what we and our organization can to starting today.

Thank you to Dr. Bob Wachter for 3 years of calm and professional leadership in the pandemic. Posting on YouTube the Grand Rounds in Internal Medicine has been a bright spot throughout this time.

All of us in medicine are better for the work you both do.

[Cathy-xicb]

Without a strong supportive chair, no department is safe from staff burnout. But providers are promoted based on things other than leadership. Doctors insist on believing what they were taught in preschool; you are brilliant, you can do anything, you will have a wonderful life as long as you fulfill your potential. Then they meet the healthcare system. I saved my sanity by going into private practice. Less money, no status at all, lots of work to build professional connections. But I never burnt out and I still love patient care all these years later.

[美国波比医生]

06:08 the reason you took this interest.
12:59 about 2011 national study 44% physician scored high in burn out parameters. Even adjusting for work hours, the burn out is still high.
28:18 WHO study showed working hour > 55/w is associated with poor health outcome- Stroke, MI. IM average work hour: 56/w.
45:15 how to improve, leadership management and resources

54:20 -Peer interaction is shown in randomized study to improve "meaning at work" and sustained reduction in burn-out Dr. West and mayo clinic study
1:08:04- summary: self calibrate, debunk "delayed gratification", integrate now, what's most meaningful to you now. Self compassion, imposter syndrome, isolation.

[alanrcrews]

This brings to mind “The first rule about fight club is you do not talk about fight club.” Replace “fight club” with “medical school”, “ internship”, “residency”?!

[sreddy]

Unaddressed torture and all the other issues might affect hc for all...The other side of duality appears less of a nag and quite a bit safer, Doctors worldwide... Is it any wonder doctors and hcw are leaving clinical medicine in droves in an exponential manner?