Medicine

Vivek H Murthy, MD: Battling Loneliness and Restoring Connection Among Physicians

Vivek H Murthy, MD, 19th Surgeon General of the United States, is well known for his endeavors in combatting the opioid crisis and e-cigarette use among youth, as well as promoting physical activity and vaccination.1

However, at the opening ceremony of the American College of Physicians’ Internal Medicine Meeting 2019, Dr Murthy zeroed in on a topic that has often been less explored in medicine: the epidemic of loneliness.

He pointed out that it can be difficult to analyze loneliness, as loneliness is a much less well-documented phenomenon compared with conditions like diabetes and hypertension. However, loneliness continues to impact both patients and physicians profoundly.

In patients, loneliness can impact willingness and ability to engage in plans of care, including exercise and medication adherence, Dr Murthy explained.

In physicians, loneliness can often be tied to feelings of burnout, which can not only affect the quality of care patients receive, but can also impact physicians’ enthusiasm for work, feelings of depression, work-life balance, and sense of personal accomplishment. Internal medicine physicians, in particular, experience one of the highest rates of burnout among all medical specialities.2

Dr Murthy emphasized that fostering strong connections with other physicians is a key driver of motivation and purpose in the medical field, noting that physicians often come for the cause of bettering the lives of their patients and stay for the people with whom they build relationships.

“We need to be connected and build a sense of community in order to sustain our energy and our motivation,” he emphasized, naming a number of personal strategies he has come across in his years of practicing medicine geared toward creating a stronger sense of connection between physicians:

  • Set aside time each day to connect with other physicians. Dr Murthy shared a personal work experience where each day, a different colleague would share photos of loved ones or other experiences unrelated to work, which allowed his colleagues to get to know each other on a more personal level.
  • “Microdose.” Dr Murthy shared anecdotes of physicians who take even a few seconds per day while washing their hands or before entering a patient’s room to reflect on personal purpose in medicine and feelings of gratitude.
  • Address burnout. Dr Murthy noted that burnout must be alleviated on personal and systemic levels, and that strengthening a sense of community between physicians can help.
  • Help other physicians feel like they are part of a connected community. Dr Murthy shared the story of his young daughter’s hospitalization for an abscess in her leg, which required surgical intervention. After he thanked the surgeons for saving his daughter’s leg, the surgeons said of Dr Murthy, “he’s one of us.”
     

—Christina Vogt

References:

1. Dr Vivek H Murthy: 19th Surgeon General of the United States. https://www.vivekmurthy.com/about. Accessed on April 11, 2019.

2. Shanafelt TD, Boone S, Tan L, et al. Burnout and satisfaction with work-life balance among US physicians relative to the general US population. Arch Intern Med. 2012;172(18):1377-1385. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2012.3199.