New courses supporting physicians’ mental health augment the Texas Medical Association’s wide library of physician-driven education, part of the association’s focus on delivering comprehensive continuing education free to all members.
Cristel Escalona, MD, chair of TMA’s Committee on Physician Health and Wellness, believes this could be the most important year yet for physician wellness.
“If you don’t have a good headspace, you can’t provide for your patients at all,” she said. “In a space where patients are pushing back, [physicians] are no longer an ‘expert,’ and [patients] no longer believe what you say, it’s important to have a good practice for taking care of yourself to get up every morning and get back up and do it again,” the Edinburg pediatric hospitalist said.
There are three new courses in the wellness track:
- “Contemplative Medicine: Integrating Mindfulness and Compassion into Everyday Clinical Living”: Now available on demand, Dr. Escalona describes a health care approach that uses Zen Buddhist principles, mindfulness, and compassion.
- “Art and Science of Breathing – Optimize, Relax, Heal”: Nick Shroff, MD, founder and president of the American Prostate Cancer Foundation, explores the physiology of breathing and how proper breathing influences the nervous system, posture, and overall resilience. “Listen to your body, be grateful for its functioning, and appreciate your practice,” he said.
- “Beyond the Stethoscope: Supporting the Mental Well-Being of Physicians”: The program examines high suicide rates among physicians and the resulting impact on an estimated 1 million patients annually.
Other CME addresses the importance of time management, fostering relationships, and navigating a healthy relationship with anger.
TMA’s Education Center currently offers more than two dozen PDF publications, on-demand webinars, and podcasts on wellness designed to help physicians reconnect with purpose, patients, and themselves.
The majority of TMA’s CME content is available in PDF form as it’s what most members prefer, says Cheryl Krhovjak, director of TMA’s Education Center, and all CME is free to members thanks to financial support from the TMA Insurance Trust.
“All of the on-demand content is available to members and staff for free,” Ms. Krhovjak said. “As long as their staff has an account linked to their member, they also get that benefit.”
TMA’s physician health and wellness programing is delivered by member physicians and TMA staff in response to needs and knowledge gaps identified by leadership from TMA’s boards, councils, and committees and through policy generated by the House of Delegates.
TMA also hosts wellness resources on its Wellness First webpage, including free, confidential counseling available through partnership with Anticipate Joy.