Mammen Sam, MD, attended the 2024 Texas Medical Association Listening Tour in Galveston in part as a sort of professional homecoming, having completed medical school at the UTMB John Sealy School of Medicine.
But he also wanted to forge more contacts with colleagues as a potential balm against the burdens physicians face, isolation among them.
“Even though we’re part of our local community, we sometimes never meet our physician colleagues in adjacent offices or adjacent facilities,” the Pearland hospitalist said. “We’re sequestered geographically and also by insurance plans and their networks and even by hospital systems.”
The member of TMA’s Council on Legislation described the Listening Tour as an informal, relaxed environment that cultivates better professional networks – which can support collaboration as physicians build solutions together to the shared problems they encounter in caring for patients.
Diminishing returns and a one-size-fits-all approach to the practice of medicine, dictated by prior authorization and other administrative hurdles, can demoralize physicians and frustrate the pursuit of work-life balance, culminating in burnout.
“Physicians have seen their salaries decline while seeing more patients and being subjected to more administrative and procedural obstacles,” Dr. Sam said. “I’m not sure we can ever return to the simplicity of the old-fashioned doctor-patient relationship, where we cared for and invested in our patients like our own families.”
Unfortunately, the structural and policy changes that could mitigate factors contributing to burnout might not be forthcoming. However, to bridge the gap, TMA offers a slate of resources to combat physician fatigue.
Wellness First, the association’s wellness hub, houses a trove of materials, including downloadable brochures on stress and substance use disorders as well as CME courses concerning work-life integration and boundary setting, among other topics.
Those courses are accessible at no cost to TMA members, compliments of TMA Insurance Trust.
TMA’s website also connects members to low-cost, confidential counseling services through Anticipate Joy, a service that launched in January 2023 that has since assisted nearly 100 physicians, as well as a crisis hotline and well-being self-assessments.
In 2023, TMA’s Committee on Physician Health and Wellness launched a CME wellness track at TexMed, TMA’s largest member conference. After nearly 200 participants attended one or more of the presentations, the committee redoubled its efforts at TexMed 2024 with a suite of sessions delving into breathing techniques for better sleep, identification of burnout in a peer, optimization of hybrid practice workflows in the era of artificial intelligence, and fostering relationships to support physician well-being.
TMA’s Education Center includes a wellness-specific CME library with 20 free courses for members (www.texmed.org/Education).
Those types of offerings and the association’s related support don’t go unnoticed, according to Dr. Sam.
“To see that TMA cares that we in our practices are all doing well is a demonstration of TMA’s commitment to our larger community of Texas patients and their physicians,” he said.
Last Updated On
November 27, 2024
Originally Published On
November 14, 2024
Jessica Ridge
Reporter, Division of Communications and Marketing
(512) 370-1395