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Jeff Sharman: The force that results in more burnout than any other

Photo of Jeff Sharman from oregoncancer.com

Aug 11, 2023, 19:13

Jeff Sharman: The force that results in more burnout than any other

1/x True story that highlights the loss of autonomy and agency by physicians – the force that results in more burnout than any other: A physician colleague of mine in a different practice that was recently acquired by a major financial firm was on back-up call…..
2/x He was in a surgical discipline and got called to help in a challenging case that kept him in the or from midnight until 5am. The medical emergency resulted in major trauma to young woman but saved her life
3/x Since clinic started only a few hours later he stayed at the hospital and then began seeing patients at 8am as though it was a regular day. He was planning on driving to Portland after work for a family event but was concerned about sleep deprivation and a long drive
4/x He therefore adjusted his afternoon clinic. He had afternoon patients come in early and worked through lunch in order to finish early. Only two patients had visits cancelled. By working efficiently and through lunch he was able to be done 2.5 hr early
5/x After 36 hours without sleeping- getting all of his work done early – he let his clinic know he was headed home early to get some sleep before his drive.
His “manager” told him he would need to use his allocated “vacation time/pto” if he planned to leave clinic early

Conclusions 1#: Washington post writing that physicians are overpaid is incredibly oblivious to the reality on the ground – we can’t find enough doctors to hire – and my practice is one of the good ones. Sounds like the market is broken.
Conclusion #2: Autonomy is a value you don’t appreciate until you lose it. Working for an “overlord” that controls your time and effort and doesn’t appreciate your reality is a fast track for burnout.
Conclusion #3: Financial investors who are consolidating ownership of medical practices is one of the worst developments in healthcare and will leave irreparable damage. Avoid such jobs!
Conclusion #4: Physicians have delegated business decisions to others for so long that many are now just small pawns in the large machine: find a job where you are closer to the business decisions and you can affect your fate. You will be happier in the long run.
Conclusion #5: If you are “managed” by someone with far less education and experience than yourself and lacks a medical background – watch out – I’ve heard many stories over the years that are equally ridiculous.
Conclusion #6: A wise friend told me, “if you are not sitting at the table, you are likely on the menu.” Docs need to take back control of the practice of medicine or we will be eaten up by our financial masters.
Conclusion #7: Physician income has been squeezed for decades. blaming docs for cost of healthcare is a fundamental misdiagnosis. If Washington and the profiteers keep extracting concessions from md’s – insurance will not be the barrier to care but provider supply will be.