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Exercise

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The Art and Science of Physician Wellbeing

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Abstract

North American physicians and medical students tend to report significantly better exercise (among other) habits when compared with same-age peers. As a group, we should encourage physician exercise because it is highly correlated with positive mental and physical health outcomes not only for us but also for our patients. This chapter reviews physicians’ and medical students’ consistently positive exercise habits and the relationships between their personal exercise habits and their inclination to recommend the same to their patients; this “Healthy Doc = Healthy Patient” relationship holds true for many health behaviors. These findings highlight the importance of medical school and physician interventions to increase the numbers of physicians adopting and maintaining regular physical activity in order to increase the rates of physician-delivered exercise prescription. Taken together, these findings and suggestions have obvious and pronounced implications for preventing and managing disease on a global scale.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Erica Frank

  2. NextGenU.org, Clear Lake, WA, USA

    Debora R. Holmes

Authors
  1. Erica Frank
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  2. Debora R. Holmes
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Correspondence to Erica Frank .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, USA

    Laura Weiss Roberts

  2. Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, USA

    Mickey Trockel

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Frank, E., Holmes, D.R. (2019). Exercise. In: Weiss Roberts, L., Trockel, M. (eds) The Art and Science of Physician Wellbeing. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42135-3_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42135-3_13

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-42134-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-42135-3

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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