ORLANDO -- About 100 family physicians gathered in a cold, convention center meeting room lined up at two microphones, shifting from foot to foot, waiting impatiently for a turn to testify: they were all feeling the pain -- pain caused by burnout and frustration about the lack of initiatives to prevent it.
The family physicians here were testifying about two proposals asking the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) for an immediate course correction to address burnout.
The AAFP has been lauded as a leader among medical organizations because it has a, as well as a landing page on the AAFP official site.
But more is needed., from Laurel, Md., testified that she now has known several colleagues who committed suicide. "We need to be proactive. We need to stop this," Prest said.
Another physician agreed and had an admonition: "Don't make it some seminars and articles, and a website, and a phone number." Those, he said, are more window dressing that real tools.
While there was unanimous testimony in support of reworking the position paper, a few delegates cautioned of the need to protect burnout sufferers from punitive actions by licensing boards.
, of Des Moines University Osteopathic Medical Center in Iowa, said that she works on a state medical board committee, which sensitized her to the risks "for physicians when filling out license renewal applications; mentioning burnout or depression may stigmatize them."
O'Shea said she also worked with medical students and cautioned that students, too, face a grave risk "but it is mainly depression. Sometimes depression caused by worries over debt ... sometimes it is worry over ever-narrowing residency slots."
The burnout discussion was triggered by a pair of resolutions reviewed by an AAFP committee. Both of the resolutions start by asking the AAFP to update that position paper to "promote a more proactive approach to resilience, well-being, and mental health ... address students and residents as well as late-career and retired physicians." Additionally, the resolutions asked the AAFP to spearhead a drive to raise "national awareness of burnout, depression, and suicide."
The AAFP's board of directors sent an emissary to the hearing to state the AAFP board of directors "supports this issue and these resolutions." As a measure of the board's commitment to offering proactive tools, he said "we are purchasing 10,000 licenses for the to help members assess their risk."
Some physicians pointed out that a new position paper may be too little, too late and offered some novel homegrown solutions. "I realized that I was facing burnout, so I closed my practice and moved my whole family to New Zealand," said Wayne S. Strouse, MD, of in Penn Yan, N.Y., a tiny village in the Finger Lakes region.
That move worked, Strouse said, and "I highly recommend it."
The AAFP's Congress of Delegates will reconvene Tuesday to begin voting on this and other resolutions. If approved, the resolutions will become AAFP policy.