Physician wellness is a VPSA priority. That’s why we are excited to collaborate with our health authority and participate on the VCH Physician Wellness Steering Committee. Our wellbeing has never been more important than during the COVID-19 pandemic and additional supports that have been long called for are now available. VPSA has organized wellness opportunities available to members during COVID-19 on a Google Drive folder with subfolders for different categories and wellness events are also listed on our website’s Events page. Similarly, VCH created a COVID-19 Medical Staff intranet site that has many resources including links to the Employee and Family Assistance Program that physicians can now access as well as information about the recently created Physician Occupational Safety and Health (POSH) service.
“When the pandemic began, we realized we needed more focus on our medical staff and that’s why we created the intranet page,” said Dr. Chad Kim Sing, VCH Associate Vice President of Medicine, Quality & Safety, and a member of the steering committee. “It was a way for us to bring together the many internal and external resources available to us. These resources address needs that existed before COVID-19, so we hope we are able to continue offering the site and the resources beyond the pandemic.”
“Physicians have unique needs so it’s important to have physician-specific resources,” added Dr. Fahreen Dossa, one of the VPSA co-chairs of the steering committee. “Wellness resources can optimize our health; sometimes small changes can make a big difference in boosting resilience.”
The purpose of the VCH Physician Wellness Steering Committee is to assess levels of wellness and burnout as well as to identify causes of burnout and to develop collaborative solutions.
Wellness survey: Provide your valuable input
The VCH Physician Wellness Steering Committee has organized a physician wellness survey to assess burnout and the drivers of burnout. The survey launched recently and can be accessed here until November 16, 2020.
The survey uses the Stanford Professional Fulfillment Index, a tool designed to assess the degree of intrinsic positive reward individuals derive from their work. It includes a focus on both the positive aspects of the role and work of physicians (e.g., professional fulfillment) and the negative aspects (e.g., burnout). Additional questions will identify top workplace and personal drivers of burnout, your mental and physical health during the pandemic, and psychological safety.
The survey results will be used to collaboratively determine what short- and long-term changes or improvements are required and to implement these.
Hear more about physician wellness from a recognized expert
To address physician wellness, VPSA is holding a Zoom session with Dr. Tait Shanafelt, whom TIME Magazine named as one of the 50 most influential people in health care in 2018. Dr. Shanafelt is an international thought leader and researcher in the field of physician wellbeing and its implications for quality of care. He is credited with helping hundreds of organizations promote physician wellness.
Dr. Shanafelt’s VPSA session will be the evening of November 12. Click here for more details and to register.