As physicians, we are too familiar with the toll work and productivity take on our health. In our relentless pursuit of professional success, we find ourselves equating long hours, promotions, and accolades with personal fulfillment. However, it is crucial to acknowledge this addiction to productivity can come at the expense of personal well-being. The holidays and New Year are an opportune moment to reflect on how we balance time devoted to work and to personal health. In this article, we highlight four preventive health habits that every healthcare professional should prioritize to maintain their well-being amidst a demanding career.
Nurture Healthy Relationships
It’s easy to become consumed by the demands of work, leaving little room for personal connection. However, community and social connections offer plenty of benefits for our well-being — sense of emotional support, a place for down time, and people with whom we feel psychological safety. A social network impacts our physical health. This is important for us and a good reminder for us to share with patients: research shows that when patients are accompanied by visitors, medical errors are reduced by 62%.
Families and friends have the ability to help fill in gaps in the patient’s history, act as patient advocates, and ask the medical team deeper questions. Yet, not all patients are so lucky to have extra support at the bedside: one in four adults experiences loneliness. We’ve never met a patient who wished they had spent more time working instead of with loved ones. Particularly as we head into the holiday season, it’s important to remember the profound impact that nurturing healthy relationships can have on our well-being.
Strategies to implement:
- Spend time with your partner, your children, your neighbors, your chosen family, and other people who can support you when in times of need.
- Invest in relationships through meaningful and regular conversation by phone, video, and in real time. Give back to others.
- Spend time with people to foster long-lasting memories: taking walks, attending shows, cooking together.
Prioritize Nutritious Eating
As physicians, we are constantly advising our patients on the importance of healthy eating, yet many of us fall short in this area ourselves. Long hours, stress eating, and uncontrollable schedules make it difficult to prioritize. This is especially true when you are working all the time, the calendar is packed with meetings, and the vending machine offers no healthy options. Many healthcare professionals struggle during a busy workday to take the time to cook and share meals, instead falling into the trap of convenience, fast food, pre-prepared foods, and processed foods. Processed foods are linked to cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. As we approach the holidays, it’s tempting to indulge, but we encourage you to make time to prioritize mindful food choices.
Strategies to implement:
- Replace sugary beverages with water or herbal teas, which offer numerous health benefits. Explore non-alcoholic alternatives.
- Focus on consuming whole, fresh foods whenever possible.
- Incorporate fiber-rich foods to support digestive health and regular colon functioning.
Establish a Long-Term Relationship With a Doctor
Many busy professionals — even us physicians — wait until an emergency arises to find a doctor. For healthcare professionals like physicians, nurses, and physician assistants, delays in healthcare can be related to lack of time or even stigma, especially when it comes to mental health. In one survey, more than 40% of physicians expressed worry about or fear of seeking help for their mental health.
Unfortunately, once one decides to seek support, they are often left waiting months to be seen. Since the “new patient” visit can take a long time to schedule, call today. Typically, these initial visits are longer, more in-depth appointments and there are fewer available per clinic day. This is just the reality of the U.S. healthcare system. However, “established” patient visits are often easier to get, especially in an environment where many primary care doctors are no longer accepting new patients.
Strategies to implement:
- Be proactive about your health — call and schedule an appointment with a local primary care doctor who accepts your insurance. While you might not be seen immediately, you at least have the appointment booked.
- Book appointments that fit your schedule. Avoid scheduling times and days you know will be challenging to attend. For instance, consider whether an 8 a.m. appointment is realistic if you often work early morning shifts or if you manage school drop-off for kids.
- Be sure to attend your annual check-up with your primary care doctor, because some clinics will remove patients after prolonged absence from the schedule.
Move Your Body Regularly
Spending time moving the body helps multiple organ systems: muscles and joints, heart, lungs, and brain, for instance. Exercise is also known to boost our mood and outlook towards life. People who exercise are better able to handle stress, anxiety, and hardship. If able, we want you to avoid a sedentary lifestyle. For those who work in hospital or clinical settings, exercise can be achieved even with a busy work schedule: consider taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or instead of paging peers, walk over and speak with them.
Strategies to implement:
- Start small: aim for 150 minutes of walking each week. If able, use a pedometer and target over 2,000 steps a day.
- Under-the-desk equipment, such as bike pedals or ellipticals, can help with circulation, range of motion, and strengthening. Equipment for your arms (with your video off if you’re at work!) can focus on upper body strength.
- For any remote meetings, move them to be walking, audio-only, meetings instead of virtual meetings that require screens to be on.
As emergency medicine physicians, we see the full spectrum from health to illness. Our professional journeys are important, but so is our social, mental, emotional, and physical well-being. As the holidays approach and resolutions are formed, we want to remind you to think about your well-being. Whatever changes you choose to make, be compassionate with yourself and recognize that transformation doesn’t happen overnight. However, every effort you put forth today can ease your life tomorrow.
Adaira Landry, MD, MEd, is an assistant professor of Emergency Medicine at the Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and co-founder of WritingInColor.org. Resa E. Lewiss, MD, is a professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, host of The Academic Emergency Medicine E&T podcast, and creator host of The Visible Voices Podcast. Landry and Lewiss are co-authors of the book MicroSkills: Small Actions, Big Impact.
