The Texas Medical Association offers the following timely and valuable physician health and wellness presentations. All presentations qualify for 1 hour of CME and Ethics credit.
Presentations are available in person or virtually.
Aging Physicians: Practice Dilemmas
There are not enough medical school graduates to maintain the status quo in the national number of physicians as their aging colleagues retire, much less keep up with a growing patient population and its demands. Numerous studies and anecdotal evidence demonstrate that many physicians can continue practicing safely beyond age 65. This course examines considerations in encouraging and properly managing continued professional involvement of older physicians. It also reviews steps to take when addressing a practice dilemma involving the aging physician.
Break the Silence: Physician Suicide
Physicians have easy ways to commit suicide and the knowledge to carry it out successfully. Every year 300 to 400 physicians take their own lives, resulting in loss to patients, families, and the medical community. This course explains risk factors and warning signs in potentially suicidal physicians. With this knowledge, you could save a colleague’s life, or maybe even your own.
Overcoming Distress in Medicine
Negative emotions including self-doubt, anxiety, guilt, and grief can lead to distress, burnout, or even thoughts of suicide. In this course, learn about coping strategies for handling distress, including social support and activity-oriented coping. What is your organization’s or institution’s integral approach to overcoming its clinicians’ and learners’ emotional and moral distress? Marginalizing distress in any form can erode communication and affect patient outcomes. Physicians, medical students, and their organizations can help diffuse distress by recognizing its sources and adopting resources and strategies – both personal and institutional – that help distressed individual’s cope.
Promoting Wellness Through Social Media
Learn how to promote wellness and pinpoint opportunities to gain a stronger sense of community. In this activity, you will learn to direct campaign operations through social media platforms and management features. Plus, you’ll find out how to distinguish common social media messaging mistakes, set boundaries, and redirect communication. Finally, gain knowledge on what to look for when hiring a social media strategist.
Reset Your Circadian Clock
With more active time, more 24-hour interruptions, and fewer hours of sleep have come a host of problems for physicians, students, and residents. Physicians often work in a state of fatigue at odds with their circadian clock. With advances in our understanding of the harmful effects of fatigue on health and performance, we can create strategies that will help individuals manage themselves and others.
Sticky Wellness Trends: Cannabidiol and Hemp
Why spend precious time learning about cannabidiol (CBD)when physicians must worry about medical emergencies such as cardiac arrests, sepsis, pulmonary embolisms, opioid overdoses, alcohol withdrawal, and the ubiquitous coronavirus? With the rise in the availability of CBD products, the medical community must be prepared to advise patients about their use, assess related ethical dilemmas, and prevent discrepancies at the intersection of health and public policy.
Enhancing Communication to Improve Patient Safety and Professional Satisfaction
Effective and ethical communication can lead to better health outcomes and more satisfied patients and physicians. Communication skills can improve with intention, preparation, and awareness, resulting in more trusting relationships. This course shares communication best practices, provides skill-building tools, and provides how- tos for tough conversations, such as breaking bad news or offering an apology.
The Complexities of Health Deserts
At least one Texas rural hospital has closed each year since 2011. The endemic disadvantages in underserved communities affect not only the citizens but also the lone physician. Reducing health disparities in these communities includes comprehensive support for the rural physician and its community members.
The Dynamics of Challenging Patient Encounters
Challenging patient encounters occur in all settings and can leave a physician feeling stressed and frustrated. Rather than reacting with impatience or annoyance, you can manage these situations with empathy and control. Learn how to provide a structured patient-physician conversation to improve patient satisfaction, prevent your own stress and burnout, and improve patient outcomes.