Curious about the specialty of Emergency Medicine? And as a woman?

1. Emergentologist
Burnout and the Speciality
The

2. Dr. Myiesha Taylor - BAFERD

3. About Dr. Taylor
Emergency Medicine Physician Attending Assistant Professor Faculty at UT
Southwestern Medical Center
Physician Partner at Vituity
Associate Partner at Kaiser Permanente Medical Group
Associate Medical Director at County of Los Angeles
Chief Resident at Los Angeles County King Drew Medical Center
College Counseling at UC San Diego
Medicine at University of Southern California
Chemistry/Pre-Med at Xavier University of Louisiana
● Homeschooling Mother
Daughter 17 and 2L
Son 14 and TCC grad + Junior at UNT
Daughter 12 at TCC
● Wife
● Daughter/Aunt/Sister/Friend
● Sorority Chapter Vice-President
● Advisor of Youth Group
● Vice-President of Chapter of National
Mothers’ Group (Jack & Jill of America,
Inc.)
● Member of various Social Clubs
● Educational Strategist
● Community educator (Disney Jr. etc)
Medical Advisor at Cannformatics
Health & Safety Expert Content Advisor
at Texas State Board of Education
Chief Medical Officer at InDoc
Owner and CEO at Taylored Physician

4. Emergency Medicine
Emergency medicine is the medical specialty dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of unforeseen illness or injury. It
encompasses a unique body of knowledge as set forth in the “Model of the Clinical Practice of Emergency Medicine.” The
practice of emergency medicine includes the initial evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, coordination of care among
multiple providers, and disposition of any patient requiring expeditious medical, surgical, or psychiatric care.
Emergency medicine is not defined by location, but may be practiced in a variety of settings including hospital-based and
freestanding emergency departments (EDs), urgent care clinics, observation medicine units, emergency medical response
vehicles, at disaster sites, or via telemedicine.
Emergency medicine encompasses planning, oversight, and medical direction for community emergency
medical response, medical control, and disaster preparedness. Emergency medicine professionals provide valuable clinical,
administrative, and leadership services to the emergency department and other sectors of the health care delivery system.
Emergency physicians are the foundation of the United States healthcare system's patient safety net. They possess a clear
understanding of the health care delivery system and the needs of their patients. Emergency physicians are uniquely
positioned to evaluate, plan, and implement community and regional health policy initiatives.

5. Physician Stress & Burnout
Being a physician is a stressful job.
Dealing with sick and dying people, their grieving families, and basically seeing the worst of humanity and the
ramifications of those actions, takes a mental/emotional toll.
This, combined with our training system that rewards self-abuse, expects perfection, being wholly
responsible for outcomes of which you have little control over contribute to physician burnout. It would
make sense that high-intensity fields such as EM would have high levels of stress and therefore higher levels of
burnout as a result.
When doctors are held accountable for things outside of our control (that add little value to medicine) such as
medicare quality indicators and, patient satisfaction feedback, frustration grows. Further the dichotomy between
doing the actual right thing for the patient and following the "approved guidelines" developed by the payors are
often at odds. Because we are there to "do right by the patient" there is an intense internal conflict that is
difficult to reconcile.

6. Physician Burnout
Burnout—a psychological syndrome featuring
emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a reduced
sense of personal accomplishment
Burnout has widespread consequences, including poor
quality of care, increased medical errors, patient
and provider dissatisfaction, and attrition from medical
practice, exacerbating the shortage and
maldistribution of EPs.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6526882/?fbclid=IwAR0Mr0HGH2qO63-
7QQjUDKnHCQuuI-BfbaPkiGntQ-Jhek8MSpyyARkdyeg
Burned-out physicians are unlikely to seek professional treatment and may attempt to deal with substance abuse,
depression and suicidal thoughts alone
Each year more than 400 physicians take their lives, likely related to increasing depression and burnout.

7. Physician burnout
Burnout not only affects the physician and her/his quality
of life, but also adversely affects patient care and
outcomes.
Leading cause of burnout is high administrative
burden (bureaucratic tasks).
Other causes include EHRs, lack of autonomy, lack of
respect, regulations.
Also mid-career is a time when more docs tend to feel
burned out, maybe due to lots of roles outside of medicine
(such as caring for children, and elderly parents, have lots
of bills, mortgage, car-notes, etc).

8. Physician burnout
Women tend to be more burned out than
men, probably due to the larger role women tend to
play in maintaining household duties (even while
working full-time) combined with our tendency to
take on work that isn't compensated (such as
mentoring and other collaborative "helpful"
positions) and are sometimes even relegated to roles
that aren't promotable.
Also there is a possibility that women may have more
doubt about whether they are living their purpose
when they have many competing interests in
their lives such as being a care-provider for children
and parents. There have been many great articles
written about how Covid-19 pandemic is adversely
affecting women's careers when duty calls at
home as we bear a great proportion of childcare and
household duties.

9. Physician Burnout
For the most stressful medical job, the
highest percentages of burnout occurred
among these medical specialties:
Critical care: 48 percent.
Neurology: 48 percent.
Family medicine: 47 percent.
Obstetrics and gynecology: 46 percent.
Internal medicine: 46 percent.
Emergency medicine: 45 percent.
https://www.medscape.com/slideshow/2020-lifestyle-burnout-6012460#1

10. Energy Levels & Burnout (stop the drain and replete when
depleted)
EM contributions
Depleted levels may
manifest as
Replete your levels via
Physical Energy
Shift work with rotating hours can disrupt self-
care including sleep cycles, and ability to eat
healthy foods. Physical assault by patients. A
training system that rewards self-abuse.
when its low you feel physically
exhausted.
Self-care. Good diet, exercise,
adequate quality sleep
Mental/Emotional
Energy
Highly stress work that carries with it a heavy
emotional toll. Dealing with sick and dying
people, grieving families, and seeing the worst
of humanity and the ramification of those actions
are draining. Work-schedule may separate us
from our families and that necessary human
emotional connection.
when its low you depersonalize,
become cynical, overly sarcastic,
and have “compassion fatigue”
Spend time with important people in
your life (including yourself).
Spiritual Energy
Loss of autonomy, appreciation, administrative
burdens, and unfair adjudication from external
interests often have physicians asking
themselves if their role is truly added value.
when its low you lack efficacy and
doubt the value of your work and life
purpose.
Connect with your purpose

11. Women in Emergency Medicine
Emergency Medicine is like a valuable gem that many fail to fully appreciate.
There is always a need (somewhere) for a physician that can take care of
very sick people.
The pay is good. I won’t say recession or pandemic proof, however, but you’ll fare better than many others.
The work is meaningful
Medicine is not “a calling” or some sort of “special” state of being. It is a career. A way to make a living and
contribute to society professionally
Allows you to “everything in its proper place” in the ranking of your life priorities and medicine can be an
excellent career.
EM allows a physician to have the flexibility to prioritize various aspects of their lives.