Page 12 - Christiana Care Focus October 2018

Center for Provider Wellbeing | Do No Harm C O N T I N U E D
Although it includes statistics to lend perspective to the crisis, the film is an emotional — not
an academic — reaction, said Symon. She was attracted to the topic in 2014 after she read a story about two doctors who took their own lives just days apart.
Because doctors living in crisis have trouble properly caring for others, the issue should be
Timportant to everyone, she said.
he film suggests a variety of culprits behind physician burnout, including profit-minded employers and tradition- bound medical schools, but it blames
a culture of perfection among physicians and
a stigma around mental illness as key causes. Real-world consequences such as a lack of career advancement and licensure problems can face those who admit they need help.
Vanessa Downing, Ph.D., a former cardiovascular
psychologist who is now the director of content
development and training at Christiana Care's
Center for Provider Wellbeing, said health care providers tend to be high-achieving people who find it difficult to show vulnerability. Part of her goal, then, is to make it easy to reach out. The Center for Provider Wellbeing has created a 24-hour phone line to connect providers with supportive resources. In its first year, it received 90 callers, including 13 percent of the health system’s population of
Bresidents.
ut the ultimate goal is to prevent these crises by helping providers build relationships with people who can help them cope with adversity. It’s important,
Dr. Downing said, to give providers time during work to
talk about their experiences rather than expect them to do it on their own time.
“Until we make it OK for
physicians to be a little bit not
OK, it will be hard to get them
to open up.” Vanessa Downing, Ph.D.
Following a screening of Robyn Symon’s documentary, “Do No Harm,” a panel of physicians and professionals answered questions about the film screening. Shown at center is the panel moderator, Heather Farley, M.D., FACEP, MHCDS, who directs Christiana Care Health System’s Center for Provider Wellbeing.
Making these conversations a normal part of work can break down some of the stigma associated with asking for help, she said.
After the film, Dr. Farley moderated a five-person panel to discuss the issues it raised. In addition to Downing, panelists were:
• NeilJasani,M.D.,MBA,FACEP,ChristianaCare'schiefpeople officer.
• PrayusTailor,M.D.,nephrologistandimmediatepastpresident of the Medical Society of Delaware.
• HeatherBrown,M.D.,residentinInternalMedicine-Pediatrics, resident wellness officer and chair of the Resident Wellbeing Committee.
• RobynSymon,thefilm’screator.
Dr. Jasani said that he was most moved by the film's assertion
that physician suicides represent the tip of the iceberg, with many others suffering out of sight. How well these unseen problems are recognized will help determine how they affect our caregivers and our patients, he said.
Dr. Downing said the burden of disclosure rests with the listener as much as the speaker.
10 CHRISTIANA CARE HEALTH SYSTEM