Opinion: Physician burnout and medical breakthroughs: a patient’s story
As I tried for several years to identify why my pre-cancer health hadn't returned and how to get it back, I realized that I was unable to get well while…
I entered my doctor’s exam room worried about my health. I exited worried about his.
A lack of pressure when he placed the stethoscope over my heart. His ghost-eyed look when I spoke. His nearly inaudible voice. All of this registered as the most severe depletion of spirit — or what is sometimes and inadequately referred to as burnout — I’d seen in one of my doctors. And I’ve seen a lot of doctors over the years.
When I was 32, I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Lucky enough to survive,
