Dr. Shanafelt also shared several actions individual rheumatologists can take to promote professional fulfillment in parallel with organizational improvement efforts:
- Think about what you enjoy most professionally, and consider how you might do more of it. Is it caring for patients with a specific disease? Teaching? Mentorship? Leadership? Learning? Quality improvement? Something else? What the most meaningful aspect of your work is may be something you haven’t considered recently. For many, the last time they went through a job search was the last time they performed deep self-reflection on this topic. It’s possible that what excites you the most professionally has changed. “We can reflect on it, and then we can assess how much time we’re spending on that and what it might take [e.g., new training, skill building, seeking new opportunities] to increase it,” he said.
- Use executive coaching. Instead of placing the focus on healthy eating or exercise, executive coaching focuses on building leadership skills and working toward professional goals. It enhances meaning in work and can foster work–life integration. The research of Dr. Shanafelt and colleagues, which has now been validated by numerous follow-up studies, finds that executive coaching can help clinicians lower their burnout risk.
- Share your professional, sacred moments with colleagues. Think about those memorable moments in your work in which you’ve made a deep and profound connection with someone, perhaps with a patient. You feel joy, peace or empathy. When this happens, do you usually share that moment with someone else? If not, start to do it, Dr. Shanafelt said. Evidence from the University of Michigan indicates that the mere act of discussing sacred moments with a colleague when they occur may reduce burnout.
Ultimately, both individual and systemic changes are needed to meaningfully address the challenge, Dr. Shanafelt said.
Setting the Tone
Also during the Opening Session, outgoing ACR President Carol A. Langford, MD, MHS, director of the Center for Vasculitis Care and Research in the Department of Rheumatic and Immunologic Diseases at Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, welcomed attendees and encouraged their involvement with advocating for research funding and support.
“It is essential to rheumatology … to be able to shine brightly without the threat of being dimmed or extinguished,” Dr. Langford said.
Dr. Langford highlighted efforts from the ACR to advocate for the specialty, including more than 100 ACR, ARP and patient delegates who met with lawmakers and their staff over the past year to educate them about rheumatology.
