Resilience Training and Physician Well-Being

Authors reply: I completely agree with Drs. Poses, Smith and Maulitz that we should be striving to change working conditions that may lead to physician burnout; however, I disagree with their assertion that: "Would increasing physician resilience not make them more accepting of what should not be acceptable?" Stress can be a motivator of course, but overly stressed out rats can’t find their way through the maze. Likewise, physicians who are burnt out and depressed are not likely to be very effective in working for change in their organizations. Programs that help to ameliorate stress, burnout and depression will help to promote the change our organizations need by creating a cohort of individuals who have a greater sense of purpose and perhaps self-efficacy to accomplish what needs to be done. If anything is likely to lead to passivity and apathy among physicians, I would think it would be chronic stress and anxiety rather than programs that aim to reduce these problems.