Doctors provide healthcare but doctors can be patients! An argument that physicians should take care of themselves and not just patients…
It’s not just the physical and mental health that are vital but the psychological-social wellbeing of one’s surroundings. A doctor would ideally want to provide the best care which is always possible when the best care is made available to that doctor. Similarly, there’s a dire shortage for therapy treatment options for doctors who are going through lawsuits. Self-medication and a lack of emphasis on the physician wellbeing is what medical schools should add to a decades old curriculum. Doctors have their own GP that do require attending, and follow-ups on a weekly and monthly basis with a timed schedule slot. An elderly doctor would benefit greatly from this. Self-medicating can pose a risk to getting addicted to substance use and abuse in specialities like anaesthesiology, emergency medicine and psychiatry. It’s also used for addressing benign and chronic diseases. A lack time for visits is the main reason for avoiding visits. People working on the managerial roles in the hospice need to focus on the stress indicators that can be reduced, impacting the wellbeing efficiency of the physician.
Senior doctors can provide a support system in the hospital for the junior doctors!
(Note: Obviously, if you somehow enter the medical field as someone with rare health conditions this most likely might not apply to you in terms of self-medicating! There are many things yet to be done in the field of medicine!)
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