Denton County Living Well Magazine November/December 2018 | Page 29

males. Some of them are: • The perception from others of you in terms of perfor- mance (can she really do it?) • Recognition of your value (is she for real?) • Others accepting the fact that you have authority (who does she thinks she is?) • Commitment to work (if she is single without kids she might have more time until she becomes a mom or gets married/maybe not do the job? If she is a mom al- ready, then she has other priorities that are more im- portant besides the job?) • Gender pay gap (same job but sometimes men get offered more money, why?) and many more... Like a colleague of mine said, “We have to constantly show our performance and efficiency way more than men.” This leads me to my first topic. Stress and Burning Out “When there is awareness, there is opportunity.” With stress you recover in your time off. With burn out, you are not able to recover in your time off which follows a downward spiral. It begins a bit before medical school and then continues. The competition, poor sleep, pressures, skip- ping exercise, skipping social events, poor eating, feeling not good enough, depression, dealing with patient deaths, inability to accomplish obligations out of the medical prac- tice, not having quality time with loved ones, a decrease in the sense of personal accomplishments, and in more recent years, all the times spend in administrative activities. As many as 50% of physicians suffer from burnout, which depends a lot on organization environment, specialty, sat- isfaction with job, age, work/life situation. Women under 45 years old are more likely to burn out than men. Studies show that women physicians are less productive. Really? I don’t call it less productive; I call it we are undervalued. As stated above, we women are wired for connection and wear many hats. Female physicians are more likely to engage and connect with patients in aspects that men might not. Sometimes in order to have a stronger connec- tion with a patient, a female engages in the psychosocial aspects and needs. There is extra work in family meetings that might not be reimbursed but there is the gratitude from patients for making time for them. As a reality, patients of women doctors open up more when speaking on visits, which enhances physician productivity, patient experience (patient satisfaction increases loyalty), and care quality. Then why the burn out? Women vs. Male Factors Women pattern (The superwoman) • Emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and cynicism (dysfunctional coping mechanism), and a decreased feeling of accomplishment. Male pattern (I can do it all and keep going) • Depersonalization and cynicism (coping mecha- nism for stress), emotional exhaustion. Males do not think there is a decrease in their accomplishments or they are cynical so there is a denial of distress. Besides the patterns above, women physicians have to deal with domestic households, sometimes sense of guilt, shame, their own emotional wounds (both sexes), society’s pressure of being an excellent wife and mother (if that’s the case), and many face condescension and discrimination by other females and also males. Side note: U.S. physicians have the highest suicide rate of any profession––300 to 400 commit suicide, which in most cases, it is maintained quiet. The University of Michigan points out that there is a stigma that doctors have to be invincible and not show weakness. The bad turn is that whenever there is a need for mental health of any kind (depression, substance use, anxiety, etc.) there is not a safe space to seek care because of the fear of losing the license and being seen as as “weak.” Interventions come in handy at this time. Wellness Solutions (you can’t fix everything or everybody) Forget about being the superwoman and just be proactive in recognizing the signs and early warning symptoms of exhaus- tion. If you have an office, sit down with your team weekly and establish new techniques to simplify things while adding value. Be more assertive and start paying attention to how you feel and your thoughts and emotions––stop, step back, set time to practice self-care and mindfulness, connect with yourself again, meditate (if you are open to it), set time for exercise, and reinforce your boundaries. Consider other factors that are not at work such as life at home (be vulnerable and honest about how you feel, ask for help if you have a partner/ chil- dren and set a team environment). As another colleague said, “We are hard wired for work, but if you get sick or drop dead today, the world will keep turning.” Time to take action today! Dr. Julie is a Certified Life Coach for men and women but her specialty is Women Recovery from Addictions. By integrating recovery tools of life skills, fitness, nutrition, emotional intelligence, mindfulness, and self-care, a woman can achieve a strong lifelong recovery. [email protected]. www.coachdrjulie.com DENTON COUNTY Living Well Magazine | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018 27