Surgeon grows vegetables across from his hospital to cope with stress and burnout

From this Reuters/Yahoo article:

"Dr. Brian Halloran, a vascular surgeon at St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor, starts planning his garden long before spring arrives in southeast Michigan. His tiny plot, located in the shadow of the 537-bed teaching hospital, helps Halloran cope with burnout from long hours and the stress of surgery on gravely ill patients. "You really have to find the balance to put it a little more in perspective," he said.

Hospitals such as St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor have been investing in programs ranging from yoga classes to personal coaches designed to help doctors become more resilient. But national burnout rates keep rising, with up to 54 percent of doctors affected."

Burnout as a syndrome is marked by emotional exhaustion, cynicism and decreased effectiveness. A 2015 Mayo Clinic study found that more than 7% of 7,000 doctors had considered suicide within the prior 12 months, compared with 4 percent of other workers.

Some blame the way medicine is practiced in the United States since the introduction of EMRs, fueled in part by growing clerical demands that have doctors spending two hours on the computer for every one hour they spend seeing patients.

It can cost more than a $1 million to recruit and train a replacement for a doctor who leaves because of burnout.

Atrius Health, Massachusetts' largest independent physicians group, is aiming to cut 1.5 million mouse "clicks" per year.

Tips for managing stress (watch the 2-minute BBC video embedded below)

- Take a few deep breaths
- Get plenty of exercise
- Socialize - don't stress alone, talk to someone and have a laugh
- Get out - go to the park



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References:

Counting the costs: U.S. hospitals feeling the pain of physician burnout

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