Physicians, Heal Physicians Heal

Dr. Asistores and Dr. McCain speak with Dr. Trent Mazer about burnout in residency, healthy boundaries, and the importance of relationship. Dr. Mazer is a family physician with Sentara Timber Way Health Center. He shares insights into the team care model for finding work-life balance, and its potential for preventing physician burnout.



Questions or comments? Contact us at: physiciansheal@gmail.com

Dr. Asistores and Dr. McCain reflect upon conversations with Dr. Wenger and Dr. Domingus, and consider their individual stories within the larger communal story of physician burnout and healing. They explore the meanings of "contemplation" and "discipleship" both within and outside of their spiritual tradition. Using Ronald Rolheiser's "Domestic Monastery: Creating a Spiritual Life at Home," they discuss how framing career stages into Essential, Generative, and Radical stages could offer healing to physicians seeking meaning and purpose in their work.



Questions or comments? Contact us at: physiciansheal@gmail.com

Dr. Asistores and Dr. McCain talk with Dr. Jeff Domingus about burnout, healing, and finding meaning in medicine. Dr. Domingus is a family physician with Healthy Community Health Centers (HCHC). He shares how burnout is related to autonomy, mastery, and fulfillment.

"Founded in 2007, HCHC’s mission is to provide patient-centered healthcare that is accessible and affordable for all. As a nonprofit health care organization, HCHC seeks to ensure that affordable, high quality primary health care services are made available to all residents of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, including family medicine, pediatrics, behavioral health, women’s health, prenatal care, dental services, HIV/AIDs care management, and pharmacy.

HCHC provides care at three locations in the Valley: Stone Port on Little Sorrell Drive in Harrisonburg; Park View located within Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community in Harrisonburg; and Elkton located in the Shen Elk Plaza in Elkton. With donor support and as a federally qualified health center (FQHC), HCHC makes health care possible for a wide range of individuals and families that would not otherwise have access to quality medical care. HCHC strives to be a “medical home” for its patients so that health and well-being are a priority in our community."



Book recommendations:

"The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change" by Stephen Covey

"On Becoming a Healer: The Journey from Patient Care to Caring about Your Patients" by Saul Weiner, MD

"The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right" by Atul Gawande



Questions or comments? Contact us at: physiciansheal@gmail.com

Welcome to Season 2, Episode 1 of Physicians, Heal! 
This season, Dr. Asistores and Dr. McCain invite physicians to sit and dialogue with them about physician burnout and healing; or, as Dr. McCain calls it, "bringing in a third other."  As we broaden the conversation by bringing other people in, we will simplify the format and offer you raw, unedited conversations.
We are thrilled to start the season with Dr. John Wenger, a fellow family physician passionate about the well-being of both patients and physicians. He is actively involved in improving the healthcare system in his community.



Questions or comments? Contact us at: physiciansheal@gmail.com

We end this season by reflecting on the two most important things in our vocations -- and our lives -- that can either hold us back, or, when empowered by grace, can also launch us forward into the fullness of life. 

Please feel free to check out some of the resources mentioned in this episode:

A Journey with Jonah: The Spirituality of Bewilderment, by Paul Murray, OP - https://bookstore.wordonfire.org/products/a-journey-with-jonah-the-spirituality-of-bewilderment

Embrace Grace: New Medicine for a Wounded World, by Arlene McCain, MD - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B3KHCMT5/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_33Q65CED26QKKWBBSW14

Lastly, if you're a physician and you'd like to share your own story dealing with the moral injury brought about by working in the healthcare system, please don't hesitate to reach out by sending us an email at physiciansheal@gmail.com.

A retired nephrologist shares a concise account of his experience with physician burnout, and sparks a very probing conversation between Jason and Arlene about the idea of medicine as ministry. Their discussion takes some unexpected turns as they meditate on the concept of service, the proposal to consider that our lives are NOT about us, and the freedom one can possibly find in surrendering to whatever it is that causes us pain, including our own burnout. 

Please feel free to check out some of the people and resources mentioned in this episode:

The Seven Storey Mountain, by Thomas Merton, OCSO - https://www.amazon.com/dp/0156010860/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_9GNKMWR0E83FRKH5T5C8

Thoughts in Solitude, by Thomas Merton, OCSO - https://www.amazon.com/dp/0374513252/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_ZJA339HWPHCGBQTS8GXX

Bishop Robert Barron - https://youtu.be/IGkeOsCpN9g

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM - https://cac.org/about/our-teachers/richard-rohr

Lastly, if you're a physician and you'd like to share your own story dealing with the moral injury brought about by working in the healthcare system, please email your story to physiciansheal@gmail.com.