Physician Burnout; Letter to the editor response
I am writing in reference to “Burnout among surgeons: Lessons for psychiatrists” (Current Psychiatry, August 2023, p. 23-27,34-35,35a-35c, doi:10.12788/cp.0383). I have spent the last 8 years caring primarily for medical students and residents from osteopathic and allopathic medical schools. While I have collected data on rates of depression, anxiety, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and stress, this article hit upon a more nuanced set of observations.
Mothers in medicine: What can we learn when worlds collide?
Across all industries, studies by the U.S. Department of Labor have shown that women, on average, earn 83.7 percent of what their male peers earn. While a lot has been written about the struggles women face in medicine, there have been decidedly fewer analyses that focus on women who choose to become mothers while working in medicine.
I’ve been privileged to work with medical students and residents for the last 8 years as the director of graduate and medical student mental health at Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine in Mt. Laurel, N.J. Often, the women I see as patients speak about their struggles with the elusive goal of “having it all.” While both men and women in medicine have difficulty maintaining a work-life balance, I’ve learned, both personally and professionally, that many women face a unique set of challenges.