Why resilience matters more than ever

PHYSICIAN RESILIENCE

By Keisha Callins, M.D., M.P.H., chair, MAG Physician Resilience Task Force

Keisha Callins, M.D., M.P.H.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, a physician’s life was challenging. Fortunately, conversations around physician wellbeing and burnout had become mainstream. Many organizations, including the Medical Association of Georgia (MAG), have prioritized the need to address these issues in order to preserve the physician workforce and enhance patient safety.

An important and timely precedent

MAG’s Board of Directors passed its first physician wellness resolution in 2018. This strategic move was validated by a MAG House of Delegates’ survey that found that nearly 90 percent of delegates believed that “physician burnout is undermining patient care.” The resolution led to the formation of MAG’s Physician Wellness Initiative Committee (PWIC), a diverse mix of specialists, residents, and medical students that are charged with developing evidenced-based recommendations to promote physician wellbeing and mitigate the effects and consequences of burnout.

An important assignment

The MAG PWIC created a long-term plan using a multidimensional approach due to the inherent complexity of these issues... • Research the root causes of burnout, recommend appropriate education for physicians and health systems, and recommend appropriate resources Educate legislators and propose regulatory and legislative solutions to fund the Georgia Professionals Health Program (Georgia PHP) Collaborate with the Georgia Composite Medical Board • Promote relevant resources on MAG’s website and social media platforms

An important transition

The Academy of Medicine (Epstein RM, 2013) says that, “Resilience is a key to enhancing quality of care, quality of caring, and sustainability of the health care workforce… [and a key to] reduce errors, burnout, and attrition.” Based on the research that we evaluated and the physician feedback we received, the committee had experienced a paradigm shift by the time the HOD met in 2019. We consequently shifted gears and focused our efforts on developing physician resilience resources to meet the needs of MAG’s members and the state’s overall health care system. We have intentionally focused on 1) individual responsibility (i.e., promoting constructive engagement, limit-setting, self-monitoring, and mindfulness) and 2) institutional responsibility (i.e., creating a culture of trust, transparency, revolving door communications, competence, shared decision-making, transdisciplinary engagement, and continuous process and quality improvement that is based on metrics). Hence, we renamed our committee the Physician Resilience Task Force (PRTF).

An important diversion

Much of 2020 has been dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic. It has wreaked havoc in a manner that we have not seen since the 1918 influenza pandemic. In addition to the human toll, there has been an immeasurable impact on the nation’s socio-economic and collective psychological stability. Physicians now face a more challenging terrain that has been complicated by an increased workload, equipment shortages, safety concerns, threats to practice sustainability, evolving science regarding COVID-19, and rapidly changing health care delivery models (e.g., telemedicine). This pandemic has undoubtably put our resilience to the ultimate test. So in conjunction with the outstanding MAG leadership and physician support efforts, the PRTF quickly shifted gears to develop pandemic recommendations and post pertinent resources on its web page. The PRTF’s ‘Health Care Workforce Resilience in a Pandemic Fact Sheet’ provides a proactive framework for physicians, health care workers, and health systems – addressing the pandemic stages (i.e., what to expect based on where you are in the pandemic’s timeline), system and practice resilience leadership roles (i.e., who needs to do what during a pandemic), and a R.E.S.C.U.E. checklist (i.e., how to work through a pandemic).

An important prediction

I believe that resilience is a superpower that is inherent to physicians. The MAG PRTF has strived to build on that quality and empower MAG members to maintain their wellbeing while they lead the health care workforce and care for patients during the pandemic. We have also encouraged the leaders of our health care systems to cultivate a supportive and responsive environment.

Go to www.mag.org/resilience for MAG’s ‘Physician Resilience’ web page. Dr. Callins is an OB-GYN with Community Health Care Systems in central Georgia. She graduated from the MAG Foundation’s Georgia Physicians Leadership Academy in 2017.