ACG Wellness Central

Physicians are often concerned that seeking help may have a negative impact on their career. Fostering an environment that acknowledges mental health and its consequences including but not limited to burnout, depression, substance abuse, and provides resources is essential.

Schedule a telehealth visit with a mental health provider:
www.ableto.com

Find a Provider near you:
www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists

24/7 Crisis Line:
1.800.273.TALK (8255), or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741

Meditation and mindfulness are associated with a decrease in burnout, depression, anxiety, stress, and sleep disturbance among healthcare workers. Many resources exist to facilitate practicing mindfulness, including websites and apps. Be aware of our emotions, thoughts, and maintaining a positive outlook can have a multitude of health and wellness benefits including better sleep, greater compassion and empathy, and stronger immune function. Below are links to several apps and websites that can help facilitate practicing mindfulness and/or meditation.

Current CDC guidelines recommend that adults over 18 years of age sleep for 7 hours on a daily basis. Additional recommendations include maintaining a consistent sleep/wake schedule. Before bedtime, a consistent sleep schedule and restful/restorative sleep can be attained by avoiding caffeine for 7 hrs, alcohol for 3 hrs, nicotine for 4 hrs, minimizing exposure to blue light from devices after 9 pm (suppresses melatonin). Additionally, mid-day napping for 20 mins leads to meaningful restoration (improved quality of work, speed of cognition, decreased errors, increased sustained attention to difficult tasks later in the day. Some studies suggest that this could be achieved with as little as an 8 minute nap per day.

The CDC recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or at least 75 minutes of vigorous activity, or a combination of both plus strength training > 2 days/week. Whether this is achieved indoors at a facility like a gym, or outside in greenspaces and waterscapes, exercise decreases stress and depression, regardless of age, gender, and health status. A study that enrolled medical trainees in a 12-week exercise program found a statistically significant improvement in quality of life among participants compared to non-participants.

The Toolbox is a series of short articles, written by practicing gastroenterologists, that provide members with easily accessible information to improve their practices, personal lives, and ability to provide care to patients. A new edition of the Toolbox is released each month.

Providers have indicated significantly less burnout if they can consume lunch on at least 50% of their workdays. Administrators could introduce a scheduled lunch break for providers, with appropriate coverage during this time as a potential means to decrease the incidence of burnout.

Inflexibility in call schedules is another major source of burnout among gastroenterologists, and providing the means for flexibility in schedules and adequate coverage for patient care, email, inbaskets, among other key areas of quality care that are standardized and readily available could help improve provider satisfaction and decrease rates of burnout.

In a recent survey of gastroenterology/hepatology trainees, the ability to perform procedures significantly improves well-being. Providing maximal exposure to procedures and having faculty who are willing to mentor and coach fellows could combat burnout. on best practices for a diversity of procedural competencies. For programs with reduced exposure to sub-specialty procedures, providing access to training sessions, especially in-person demonstrations or using models to provide a diverse training experience could also mitigate trainee burnout and enhance educational satisfaction. Both Boston Scientific and Olympus have a variety of learning and training options available:

Social functions and frequent meetings have also been highlighted as indicators for wellness and stable work environment. Organizations, program directors, and leaders can help incorporate these types of events into programs to enhance the well-being of employees and fellows.