Physician Health First®: Maintaining your personal well-being

Family physician relaxing at a desk.

You can’t self-care your way out of systemic problems or moral injury.

The compassion fatigue, long hours and loneliness take a toll on you. While a vacation, time to recharge or a new wellness routine can help, they don’t eliminate the chronic stress of practicing in a demanding health care system.

You’re navigating pressures you may not be able to change on your own. That affects your physical, mental and emotional health. While individual strategies like healthy eating and exercise can help, your well-being also depends on having support, resources and environments that recognize your needs as a person and physician.

Resources for your mental health

Five principles for prioritizing your health

From the FPM article “Physician Well-Being: Prioritizing Your Own Health Through a Personal Health Improvement Plan”.

  1. Say “no” to perfection: Good is good, great is great, but perfect is unnatural and destructive.

  2. Say “yes” to team: We must not only ask for help but also accept help when offered from our team members

  3. Embrace emotions: Our emotions don’t make us weak; they make us authentic and powerful.

  4. Measure wellness: Our wellness is critical to our effectiveness not only as physicians but also as teachers, researchers, spouses, parents, etc.

  5. Celebrate self-care: Instead of shaming ourselves or our colleagues for self-care, we should affirm it.

Read FPM article

Physician suicide stigma and prevention

There are resources available if you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, depression or suicidality. Medical groups, including the AAFP, are supporting organizations of VitalSigns: The Campaign to Prevent Physician Suicide​.

Suicide and Crisis Lifeline

Call or text 988 if you or a colleague are having thoughts of self-harm.

A conversation on physician suicide

Family physicians Janet West, MD, FAAFP, and Michelle Chestovich, MD, examine the culture of medicine, stigma surrounding mental health treatment and the importance of creating environments where asking for help is viewed as a strength rather than a weakness.