UCalgary researchers present at Stanford

Posted January 27, 2012

By Kathryn Sloniowski

Dr. Jane Lemaire (left) and Jean Wallace, PhD, (right) had the honour of speaking at Stanford University on January 17. In addition to presenting for the Stanford Medical Centre Physician Wellness Committee they also presnted at the Medical Staff Quarterly Meeting - "Hot Topics in Medicine" and at a gathering of women physicians and medical students.Two University of Calgary researchers were honoured to accept an invitation to share their work on physician wellness at Stanford University−one of the top medical schools in the world. Dr. Jane Lemaire and Jean Wallace, PhD, spoke at Stanford on January 17th about their research on the critical subject.

 “When physicians suffer from poor physical, emotional, or mental health, the health system is not operating at an optimal level” says Dr. Lemaire, a clinical professor in the Faculty of Medicine’s Department of Medicine.

“We had the privilege of presenting to the Stanford Medical Centre Physician Wellness Committee and to have a dialogue about this challenge and what we can do about it.”

Physician wellness is a very important issue however it is one that health care workers rarely acknowledge. Lemaire says physicians may not always be effective at taking care of themselves and that the stresses of their job put them at risk of becoming sick. This not only has the potential to impact their personal lives, but to impact the quality of patient care.
 
“There is a mounting body of literature showing that physicians who are unwell negatively impact patient care,” says Lemaire, a member of the Institute for Public Health and co-lead for Wellness at the W21C Research and Innovation Centre. “For example, physicians who are burned out are more likely to order unnecessary tests and to spend less time with their patients.”

Factors such as difficulties coping with the pressures of the job, access to poor nutrition in the workplace and long hours could all potentially put physicians at risk.

Lemaire says the opportunity to speak at Stanford adds to the validity of physician wellness as being an important issue and one that should not be overlooked.

Wallace, a sociology professor in the Faculty of Arts, and adjunct professor in the Department of Medicine says a comprehensive understanding of the factors affecting physician wellness is important. This knowledge will put health-care systems in a better position to introduce changes to work and workplaces that will benefit physicians, subsequently benefitting patients as well.

“Stanford Medical Centre is working towards introducing a physician wellness program and I hope that through sharing our experiences we can contribute to the success of their undertaking,” says Wallace, who is also a member of the university’s Institute for Public Health and co-lead for Wellness at the W21C Research and Innovation Centre.

Dr. Bryan Bohman, Chair of the Stanford Wellness Committee, says Lemaire and Wallace were invited to speak at Stanford because they are highly respected international leaders in the area of physician wellness.

“We learned a lot and we got a lot of inspiration from hearing their accomplishments,” he says. “We’re hoping to find ways we can collaborate with them in the future.”