CLINICAL ABSTRACT
The patient presented with a prestigious pedigree—Duke University, New York Presbyterian, and Board Certification in Emergency Medicine—but a dangerously empty tank. Despite preaching “self-care” to patients, the subject admitted to a career-long history of putting everyone else first, a symptom ingrained during training. This case file opens the archive on the silent epidemic of physician burnout and introduces the “Translational Medicine” approach to fixing the healer, not just the patient.
THE ORIGIN STORY
Subject is Dr. JB, a Board-Certified Emergency Medicine Physician and self-described “doer.” Her foundation is built on powerhouse academic institutions: undergraduate and medical training at Duke University, followed by residency at New York Presbyterian.
Despite this elite training in anatomy, physiology, and pharmacology, the subject identified a critical gap in her education: a complete lack of training in occupational hazards, moral injury, and the reality of physician suicide. She describes herself as an optimist who is forced to confront “depressing statistics” because the current state of healthcare demands it. She entered the pandemic already “running on empty,” a condition exacerbated by the “fate of the caregiver” mindset that prioritizes every other human being over the self.
THE DIAGNOSIS
Systemic Burnout & The “Martyr” Complex.
The primary red flag identified in this case is the disconnect between “Book Medicine” and “Real Life.” The subject notes that healthcare professionals are trained to understand the half-life of a drug but are never taught how to process the death of a colleague or the trauma of the job.
The pathology is deep-seated: “We’ve been taught to show up when we’re sick. Some of us have even hooked ourselves up to IVs to keep working.” This “superhero” mentality is actually a symptom of a system in failure, leading to a workforce that is not just tired, but dying. The diagnosis is a critical lack of a “pop-off valve” to release the accumulating pressure of the profession.
THE PROTOCOL
The “Translational Medicine” Approach
We must treat our own wellness with the same rigor we treat our patients. Just as we use “Translational Medicine” to take research from the bench to the bedside, we must apply evidence-based wellness practices to ourselves.
The Prescription:
- Acknowledge the Empty Tank: You cannot care for others if you are running on fumes.
- Find Your Pop-Off Valve: You need a designated space (like this community) to release and rejuvenate, rather than bottling up the trauma.
- Reframe the Narrative: It is not a weakness to “not be okay.” It makes you human, and your knees will eventually buckle if you do not rest.
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00:38
Hi everyone and welcome to Hope for Meds podcast with me, Dr. JB. I am so excited to be launching this podcast where we will be talking about wellness. Wellness for health care professionals. Crazy concept, right? Why is our wellness important?
01:00
Well. What do we tell our patients? You can’t take care of anyone else until you take care of yourself. Am I right? On a whole. Do we practice what we preach? I would wait that awkward 20 seconds. However, on a podcast. That wait becomes even more. Awkward. And we’d all be feeling real awkward. Myself included. So I won’t. But. That’s the fate of the caregiver. Put everyone else before you. Somehow it got ingrained. In our heads that that is what we are supposed to do. Put others. Everyone. Before us. So. When we do that. What happens? When do you have time to take care of you?
02:04
We’ve been taught to show up when we’re sick. Some of us have even hooked ourselves up to IVs to keep working. We’re dedicated. But you know what else is happening? We’re burning out. We’re dying. This is not a new phenomenon. It’s been going on since the beginning of time. As healthcare professionals, we got amazing training on anatomy and physiology. We learned about medications. Mechanisms of actions, half lives, adverse events to be mindful of. Then we went to work and learned how to practice medicine. We all know there’s book medicine, then there’s real life. And the two of them don’t always align. When. During that training.
03:00
Did we learn about self care. About the occupational hazards that contribute to mental anguish. About moral injury. About the truth concerning burnout? When did we learn. About how to deal with the death of a colleague? And. If we did lose a colleague to say. Suicide during our training or beyond? When did we analyze the contributing factors, if any, that a career in health care played in their suicides? And. What. Changed? So, a little about Dr. J.B. I am not a psychiatrist. I am a board certified emergency medicine physician. One can argue that as an ED physician, I deal with a lot of patients with psychiatric problems.
04:01
And I’d say. Touche. I completed my undergraduate training at Duke University. Go Blue Devils. And. Stayed at Duke for medical school. I then went on to New York Presbyterian in New York City where I completed my residency in emergency medicine. The foundation I stand on was created by powerhouse academic institutions. For all you evidence based healthcare professionals. Don’t worry, I can provide you with enough literature to make your head spin and tickle that part of your brain that makes you smile. I got you. I personally have always been more of a doer kind of girl. I think. And I create. Those who know me personally. Know full well that it doesn’t even matter if what I’m thinking of has never existed before. I. Make it happen. Hope for Med is translational medicine. And I’m sure you are all aware of what translational medicine is, right?
05:07
It’s taking the bench and bringing it to the bedside. Bench meaning all the research that has been conducted and bedside meaning the patient. There is a lot of research out there talking about. Burnout in medicine. 40. Years worth of literature. So the bench is there. The bedside. Well, in this context, the bedside is us. Healthcare professionals and our families and loved ones. Hope for Med aims to apply research and evidence based practices to us as healthcare professionals. To improve our wellness, to create a paradigm shift where our wellness as healthcare professionals becomes more central. What we tell our patients is not a fallacy. It’s the truth. We first have to take care of ourselves before we can effectively take care of anyone else.
06:02
I consider Hope for Med a pop off valve for us. A place you come to to both release. And rejuvenate. Like going to a gas station to fill up your empty tank. How long have you been running on empty? I’m not even talking about COVID Guys, this is all pre Covid questions. We entered this pandemic on empty and got smacked and beat senseless by this pandemic. We are taking care of patients and being bombarded with others who refuse to have common decency for other human beings. Others who don’t believe Covid even exists. It’s a lie created by healthcare institutions. Look at those empty parking lots. It’s a lie. It’s fake news. Then we have to deal with running out of supplies in some places, lack of protective gear for ourselves. Rationing treatments. It’s a battlefield.
07:00
We are in the front lines of this work with COVID and we are seeing its toll. Its toll on our patients and their families. Its toll on us and our colleagues. And we entered it on empty. On. E. Where. Do you go to replenish? Where did you go to replenish before COVID. For Those of you guys who have been following my social media account. Hope the Number4Med. On Facebook. Instagram or LinkedIn. You may have noticed that for a company called Hope4Med, it seems pretty depressing. Those of you who know me personally. Know I am an optimist. I try to see the glass half full. So why is this optimist uploading the most depressing images available. And providing the most depressing statistics?
08:00
Simply. Because that’s the truth. That’s the current state of things. Why sugarcoat it? Let’s set the framework. Highlighting the current state of things brings into the forefront even more why a company like Hope for Med was needed in the first place. But. Just like the company’s name, Hope for Med. The company’s mission is to induce hope for a better tomorrow. However. We need to set the stage. So. These depressing images will continue. I’m actually googling looking for some more as we speak. The main point is not only to set the stage. But to let other healthcare professionals know. That they are not on an island all by themselves and their feelings. That in fact there are others with similar feelings. And that it’s perfectly okay. To not. Be. Okay.
09:02
That doesn’t make you. Less than or anything remotely similar. It makes you human. Your heroes are human. As human beings, there is only so much weight you can bear before your knees start to buckle. It may vary from person to person. However. Everyone’s knees will buckle at some point. But. What if you had a pop off valve? A place to come to and release some of that weight. A community of your peers. Who understands what you are going through. Where you can share your thoughts and feelings. Would your knees still buckle? Would you still feel. All alone? Hope for Med is that place. Today we launched our weekly podcast and we’ll continue to work to develop proprietary material. Specifically designed for health healthcare professionals. From the perspective of fellow healthcare professionals.
10:03
The weekly podcast will not always be a monologue by me. You’re not here to hear my story. You’re here to hear our stories. I have a lineup of some amazing guests that will be featured. If any listener wants to be featured on this podcast, feel free to email us at podcastopethe number4med.com. Again that’s podcast hope the number4med.com. Looking forward to our journey together. Together. Together.
PRE-MED BRIEFING:
Don’t wait until you have the M.D. to learn “Translational Medicine” for yourself. If you are grinding for a 4.0 GPA on 4 hours of sleep and caffeine, you are already practicing the “Empty Tank” habits that lead to burnout. The Strategy: Build your “Pop-Off Valve” (hobbies, rest, therapy) now. AdComs look for students who have sustainable habits, not martyrs who are one bad grade away from a breakdown.
