Sask. doctors group works to address physician burnout

An article released this week in the Canadian Medical Association Journal highlights high rates of suicide among physicians.

Article authors Dr. Joy Albuquerque and Dr. Sarah Tulk note suicide is the only cause of death that is higher in physicians than non-physicians, with male doctors 40-per-cent more likely to take their own lives and female doctors facing more than twice the risk of suicide.

With physicians experiencing high rates of burnout, stress and depression, Dr. Allan Woo, president of the Saskatchewan Medical Association (SMA), said it was vital to change a culture that often sees doctors unwilling to seek out help or take time away from their practices.

“Physicians are perfectionists, high-achievers and they want to serve their patients the best they can and they feel like they can’t themselves get sick or ill,” he said.

Woo pointed to a survey of doctors the SMA did a few years back in which about 60 per cent of respondents reported they felt at risk of burnout.

“So I think that’s one of the things that we’re trying to change, is that physicians need to feel open to having that dialogue with their peers and their colleagues and their supports so that they get the help they need,” he said.

The SMA currently runs a physician health program out of an office in Saskatoon. Woo said the organization is working to open a second centre in Regina.

He said the SMA also is working with the Saskatchewan Health Authority and the University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine to help develop better supports and try to eliminate some of the factors causing stress for physicians.

“Burnout, stresses — those things are ongoing from Day 1 of medical school right to the end of a physician’s career,” Woo said.

He noted more requirements for detailed record-keeping have added significantly to doctors’ workloads.

“Trying to do all the documentation and paperwork, it’s reducing a lot of face-to-face time. There’s a lot of work that’s required after the patient interaction’s completed,” he said.

At the same time, Woo said doctors still want to provide adequate care, which often means a lot of extra working hours.

“When we get behind in a clinic, for example, we can’t shortchange the next person. We still want to provide the same amount of time and inter-personal attention,” he said.

Woo said doctors’ workloads are also affected by shortages of certain kinds of specialists, as well as shortages of doctors in rural and remote areas.

“So if there’s only two or three physicians in a community and one or two are away, that person is, in essence, isolated for that time frame,” he said.

Woo said the same dynamic often plays out for specialists in the province’s larger centres, where shortages mean any vacation or sick time for one physician means others have to pick up the slack.