President’s Message

No Judgment, Just Help

Ryan Gre iner , MD

There are many challenges facing physicians today, but one that I am most passionate about is physician wellness. We cannot serve others when we do not have balance and support for our own health. In the last year of my TCMS presidency, I am thrilled that the vision for a robust program for supporting behavioral health for physicians and their families has come to fruition. Physicians Serving Physicians (PSP) has offered confidential peer support to physicians experiencing substance use concerns for nearly 40 years and is excited to announce the launch of the Physicians Wellness Collaborative (PWC). In addition to substance use support, PWC will provide mental health and wellness support at no cost to physicians, residents, medical students—and their immediate family members—across their career lifecycle. All inquiries are confidential at (612) 362-3747, https://pwc-mn.org. Growing evidence is showing that despite higher levels of resilience than the general population, resilient physicians are still experiencing high levels of burnout (West et al., 2020). To move our impact further upstream, we are looking to partner with other organizations to promote system level interventions to address stigma towards mental health treatment, burnout, and moral distress in the physician community. The images you see on this page are the new “look” of PWC that can be shared free of charge within health systems and clinics. In addition, PWC is partnered with the Graduate Medical Education Office at the University of Minnesota. The partnership expands mental health and wellness options for Residents and Fellows across the state of Minnesota. Residents and Fellows can learn more about these resources by calling the Physicians Wellness Collaborative at (612) 362-3747 or visiting the website at https://pwc-mn.org. PWC is anchored by a new Executive Director, Timothy J. Usset MDiv, LMFT, MPH. Tim is a licensed marriage and family therapist who has worked extensively with moral injury, spiritual distress, and post-traumatic stress disorder on numerous clinical trials and clinical areas within the Veterans Health Administration. He is pursuing research on physician well-being, burnout, and moral injury as a PhD student at the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health. Tim is available for individual or organizational consultation at tusset@ metrodoctors.com or (612) 362-3747. I encourage you to access these services and broadly share the resource with your colleagues. Let’s take care of ourselves in order to fulfill our dream of serving individuals and communities.