When coaching physicians with wellness, don’t lead with mindfulness [PODCAST]
“In my work with physicians and physician leaders in academic medicine, I learned that physicians are highly self-reflective and aware of the pressures they face; however, they are frequently the last to ask for help, and the first to deprioritize their own self-care. This has led to high suicide rates in the overall physician population.
For coaches partnering with physicians on wellness, leading with mindfulness first could cause an adverse reaction. A colleague and I held a workshop on physician wellness and began the session with mindfulness. Several left the room, and a few others spoke up, indicating that what they needed was not mindfulness, but solutions for inefficient processes and increased demands from their medical coding departments. We did not make that mistake again!