ACP Well-being Champions: Balancing Self-Care and Systemic Change
鈥淢edicine is not a field of vulnerability, and as a result, we often feel alone in our experiences and feelings. True self-care for moral injury includes making choices with the help or advice of others, when possible, and looking for support in the conversations that cause distress (or afterwards).鈥
鈥Jessi Gold, MD,
We know self-care and system change are important to increasing physician well-being, but it can be hard to practice both simultaneously. In a 2021 study, self-care was defined as 鈥. 鈥 We know that individual self-care is not enough to combat the problem of physician burnout. For that, we need to implement changes on a larger scale through our institutions, health care systems, and governing bodies. Perhaps a more important yet ambiguous need is to change the culture of medicine and medical education in addition to just the systems and practices. As Well-being Champions and leaders in our local communities, how can we model the behaviors necessary for making these changes while still supporting and caring for ourselves and others?
While the attention and awareness for physician well-being has undeniably increased in the last 2 decades, there is still a long way to go in finding practical solutions and implementing meaningful systems change. A indicates that levels of depression and burnout are still high among physicians, with 83% stating that their levels of burnout and depression were related entirely or almost entirely to their professional and not their personal lives, pointing to the need for responsibility to fall on the system itself and not solely on the individual to make change. Studies looking at viable options for system changes, such as , can provide some solutions while also cautioning against the notion of 鈥渨ell-being washing鈥; per a recent article, to . It is important to remember that structural change can be slow 鈥 it takes effort and time to move institutions. .
In an effort to help promote more balance between self-care and systems change for our Well-being Champion leaders, the ACP well-being team offers a variety of resources on Implementing and Sustaining Change Efforts. We are also working to create and make more 鈥渁t-the-ready鈥 resources available to you, starting with our , and offering attendance to at the annual ACP Internal Medicine Meeting for active WBCs. And don't forget that our ACP Physician Peer Coaching Program is now live鈥攕ign up for a peer coaching session and help spread the word to others! For more information on any of these resources, please contact us at acpwellbeing@acponline.org.
Check out the links below for resources you can use for yourself and others:
- Explore the Professional Fulfillment Zone where you will find the latest updates from ACP's Professional Development and Fulfillment team, such as Peer Coach Training, WBC program and a preview of the 2025 Internal Medicine Meeting.
- Read about the Biden-Harris Administration investments in healthcare and the Surgeon General's spotlight on parent wellness.
- Learn the importance of sharing stories of vulnerability to shift the culture in Medicine.
- Review Patients Before Paperwork and advocacy updates that affect physician well-being and professional fulfillment.
- Explore WBC coaching resources, including coaching sign-ups, the WBC contact list, a library of well-being interventions, and the WBC journey map. Find out how chapters can partner with WBCs (WBC Exclusive; must be signed in to ACP online).
- Utilize just-in-time well-being skills for yourself and to teach others, and explore tools to create a well-being program tailored to any organization's needs and budget.
- Visit the I.M. Emotional Support Hub and Video Series to learn more about individual and organizational strategies and resources to protect clinicians' emotional health and well-being.
We look forward to hearing from you! Post in the ACP Connect app WBC community and/or reach out to us via e-mail anytime with your thoughts and suggestions for newsletter topics and features.
Sincerely,
Your ACP Well-being Team
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