SMP: SUSTAINED MEDICAL PERFORMANCE
Burnout Recovery & Prevention Programs
Those of us who are driven in our work, who strive to achieve high goals, and those whose work is also their vocation, are fortunate in having this passion. We are also at risk from the professional epidemic of our times – Burnout and Stress Syndrome.
Burnout, and the resulting conditions are the primary reasons for absenteeism in the workplace in the developed world. The two highest risk groups are executives and physicians, including nursing staff.
In today’s highly demanding and stressful medical environment, achieving success doesn’t guarantee your ability to continue at optimum performance and health over the long term. Burnout and Stress Syndrome is a reality – it is one of the most damaging problems of the medical world – in human and financial terms. None of us are immune.
This 7-day retreat program offers you the opportunity to disconnect from the stress and responsibilities of your daily life, and focus on finding the balance that works for you so as to re-charge your batteries, and focus on ensuring your long-term sustainability. We assess your particular situation and work-life responsibilities, and together find and design the tools and solutions needed to ensure you continue working at your top performance while avoiding the dangers of medical burnout.
For those who are already on the path or have had a burnout crisis, the retreat will consist of a bespoke recovery retreat, followed by the SMP Program.
Physician burnout is now a global concern and public health crisis with conservative estimated costs of millions in each country. The financial consequences, though extremely worrying should not be the primary concern. Drop in physician and nursing performance should be the primary concern, as this is one of the first effects of burnout. Reduced productivity, medical errors, lower care quality, lower patient satisfaction, and the resulting consequences are critical and must be addressed.
Not to be ignored is the destruction of lives and careers – burnout among medical practitioners commonly results in depression, substance abuse, poor self-care, increased number of vehicular accidents, and unfortunately has as extreme consequences as suicide. According to Scientific America, The Guardian, MDMag, and numerous other sources, approximately 400 physicians take their own lives in the United States each year. Such staggering numbers are not exclusive to the US – though numbers may vary around the globe, few countries, if any do not face serious consequences due to physician and nursing staff burnout.
Costs for hospitals and medical institutions are also staggering. According to the BMJ Journal “One estimate of the costs of physician work cutback and early retirement related to burnout suggests it totals to at least $213 million in patient services losses.” Studies show that it can cost hospitals upwards of $1 million or more to replace one physician leaving because of burnout. On a less drastic scale, the annual financial cost associated with practitioners who continue working with milder burnout is approximately $7600 per employed physician each year.
According to Forbes and the Mayo Clinic, a recent study from Johns Hopkins found that medical errors were the third leading cause of deaths in American hospitals each year. To put that into context, that amounts to over 250,000 deaths every year through something that is wholly avoidable. Stanford team wanted to test how big a role stress played. They sent surveys to nearly 7,000 physicians from across the United States to try and understand stress levels in the sector. Worryingly, around 55% of physicians reported that they had symptoms of burnout, with ten percent owning up to having made at least one major error in the past three months. “We found that physicians with burnout had more than twice the odds of self-reported medical error, after adjusting for specialty, work hours, fatigue, and work unit safety rating,” the researchers say.
What previously was a commonly ignored issue cannot be overlooked or disregarded any longer.
Patient Care
Lower care quality
Medical errors
Longer recovery times
Lower Patient Satisfaction
Health Care System
Reduced physical productivity
Increased physician turnover
Less patient access
Increased costs
Physician Care
Substance abuse
Depression/suicidal ideation
Poor self-care
Motor vehicle crashes
The Holistic Approach – People before Medical Practitioners
First we are people and then we are professionals, whatever field we work in, whatever our position, and whatever the demands are that our job and our own ambition place upon us. Though we live in a digital and technical world, we are humans and not machines.
One size doesn’t fit all: Our program offers realistic and manageable tailor-made solutions to fit each individual, taking into account each person’s particular needs, lifestyle, demands, and preferences.
Assess, clarify, simplify: Together we first evaluate each individual’s particular situation, and level or risk of stress and burnout. We then analyse their particular job, schedule, demands, family situation, and lifestyle preferences, in order to gain a clear picture of their situation.
Habit Breaking and Habit Forming – It’s Your Choice: Once we have defined which habits are damaging for each person, he or she will chose which are to be reduced or cut, and which are non-negotiable. Then together we work of how to achieve this. At the same time, we focus on adopting the new habits that will have beneficial effects and will aid sustainability.
Follow-up: Even the best program loses results without long-term support. At ORAMIQUE we build in the necessary follow-up system to enable and empower each person to maintain the changes they have made. Working together in this way ensures that relapses do not occur.
Balance = Sustainability: If we want sustainability we need to respect the human element – physical, mental, and emotional. There is no way to achieve and maintain optimum performance and health without balance.
The Whole Person: We know that regardless of how much we may try to ignore the fact, every aspect of our lives affects the other areas. Our job satisfaction or stress influences our personal lives, our personal or family lives can feed or drain our drive at work. What we eat affects our mental clarity and our energy levels. If we exercise or move regularly, it has a positive or negative affect on all areas of our lives including our job. And finally, how much we rest, and how much enjoyment we have in our lives will also determine not only our health, but also our work performance, relationships, and general drive.
Perfection is Imperfect: We do not offer the “perfect solution” – complex impractical solutions are unrealistic. We design personalised solutions that are easily put into practice and maintained for sustainability.
Step-by-Step: We provide solutions and plans that are applied by making small manageable changes. We provide a time frame and planning so that each change is easily maintained. Small steps make all the difference in the long run.
Our Surroundings Revitalise: The locations, lodging, food, activities, and workshops, are all designed to help participants disconnect from the stress and demands of their everyday lives, re-charge their batteries, re-energise, and recover their drive and focus. All this provides the perfect backdrop and setting for the first stage of a stronger, healthier, happier and hence, in the long-term, a more successful medical practitioner.
Available programs:
- In-Hospital Lectures
- Informative in-house lectures on avoidance and balance
- Small group workshops and retreats
- Bespoke packages for small numbers of physicians offering both the necessary information, as well as personalised solutions for each individual for avoiding burnout, or reversing the process if it has begun.
- Individual emergency Burnout Recovery Retreats
- ORAMIQUE works with specialised recovery centres that offer year-round accommodation and treatment in the event of a full burnout crisis. The SMP program is included as part of the process, ensuring full recovery and avoiding relapses.