appointed (See

Five Ideas For Addressing Job Burnout

BY DR. DON STANGLER

specialsections@antonmediagroup.com

It’s normal to feel checked out or to struggle with your job from time to time, but when it turns into a daily issue, it may be something more. Burnout is a specific type of work-related stress, and an increasing number of people say they’re feeling it.

The World Health Organization defines burnout as a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed, characterized by three dimensions: 1. Feelings of exhaustion 2. Increased mental distance from one’s job 3. Reduced professional efficacy

To help you apply this definition to your personal situation, consider whether these statements are true:

• Your performance at work is declining • Your efficiency at work is dropping • You’re losing confidence that you can achieve your goals • You avoid work-related tasks or struggle to find the motivation to complete them • You feel exhausted • You’ve lost interest in your work

If some or all of these statements ring true for you, you may be experiencing burnout, and various factors may have contributed, including lack of control, unclear expectations, workplace dysfunction or lack of social support.

The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to our work stress, including in transitioning to a work-from-home environment, adjusting to the unpredictable nature of the pandemic and missing the camaraderie of day-to-day interactions with colleagues at the office.

Addressing burnout is important, because left unresolved, it may lead to physical and mental health issues.

Here are a few ideas for dealing with burnout:

Communicate with your boss

Discussing your concerns with a supervisor may help you find solutions to things that are causing ongoing stress.

Reach out to your social circle

Co-workers, friends and family may be able to offer the encouragement or ideas you need to help overcome feelings of burnout. Spending time with people you care about may help boost your mood and counteract the negative feelings you might be having at work.

Take advantage of your health benefits

Work-related risk factors for burnout may also be predictors of depression. Consider talking to your doctor or accessing other resources available through your health plan, such as virtual behavioral therapy or on-demand emotional support via an app like Sanvello.

Stick to healthy routines

Well-balanced meals, regular exercise and quality sleep all help to reduce stress and can improve how you feel and perform at work.

Find ways to calm your mind

Consider trying yoga, meditation or breathing techniques to improve your mental health. Check out some ideas at newsroom.uhc.com

It may be helpful to think of burnout as a wake-up call. It’s a strong sign that something in your life is not working, so it’s important to take it seriously. Use it as an opportunity to reflect, rest and, perhaps, create a new plan for professional happiness. —Dr. Don Stangler is the chief medical officer of UnitedHealthcare of New York.

COVID-19 Showed We Need A More Diverse Doctor Workforce

BY ROBERT GRANT

Deaths related to COVID-19 were more than twice as high among black, Latino and Native American people as among whites in 2020, according to new research out from the National Cancer Institute.

It is only the latest reminder of the glaring inequity that plagues the U.S. healthcare system. Addressing that inequity will require boosting access to care among people from marginalized groups.

That’s partially a supply problem— the United States needs more doctors, especially doctors who hail from historically underserved communities. Research shows that doctors from these communities are not only more likely to return there to practice but more likely to deliver better outcomes for their patients.

More than 83.7 million Americans live in places with limited access to primary care doctors, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. They are disproportionately people of color.

That figure will likely increase. A June 2021 report from the Association of American Medical Colleges estimates that the United States could be short 124,000 physicians by 2034.

Research has consistently shown a link between access to physicians and health outcomes. Life expectancies in areas with fewer doctors are, on average, lower than those in areas that have more. About 7,000 U.S. lives could be saved every year simply by narrowing care gaps in the country’s most underserved communities.

To sustainably address the doctor shortage, we must recruit from the communities that are most acutely experiencing it. Numerous studies have found that a doctor’s race or ethnicity is a strong indicator of where they eventually return to practice. The same goes for language, family income and whether the doctor comes from a rural or urban area.

Patients also fare better when they can relate with the physician treating them. A 2018 National Bureau of Economic Research study found that black men had significantly better health outcomes when treated by black doctors.

This was also true for preventative care. Black men treated by black doctors were 10 percent more likely to receive a flu shot and nearly 30 percent more likely to submit to cholesterol tests.

It is on medical schools to produce the doctors that historically marginalized communities need. Sadly, they haven’t done a very good job of that.

Black and Hispanic people make up more than 31 percent of the U.S. population—but only a smidge over 20 percent of the student population at U.S. medical schools.

Incoming medical students hail from disproportionately wealthy families, too. Last year, the median income of parents of medical school matriculants was $140,000—double the overall median household income in this country.

International medical schools (IMG), by contrast, have made addressing inequity a priority. Onequarter of America’s doctors attended medical school outside the country. In low-income communities, international medical graduates are one-third of the doctor workforce. And in areas where the population is majority nonwhite, IMGs are even more prevalent.

Graduates of international medical schools are also more likely to go into primary care, where the need, especially in underserved communities, is greatest. Of the U.S.-born international medical graduates who matched into residency programs last year, roughly 70 percent entered into primary care specialties.

The disparate racial impact of COVID-19 is a tragic example of those inequities. Developing a more diverse doctor workforce is one small way to work toward ending them. Robert Grant, MD, is the senior associate dean for clinical studies at St. George’s University School of Medicine (www.sgu.edu).