Finding Joy in Medicine--The Antidote to Disenchantment
Mary Kraft, M.D., MPA, Program Director, Anesthesia Residency, Baystate Medical Center, Springfield, MA
Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote “to live as a Jew means to feel the soul in everything, in others and in our own existence…Everything that has within it the spirit of life longs for repair.” (1) As physicians we hope to repair the bodies of others, even if we feel soul-repair is not in our domain. How should physicians approach their patients in repair? Maimonides said “a physician should treat his patients with optimism, joy, and utmost kindness.” (2)
In our modern world, many physicians experience burnout, faced with the pressures of seeing more patients in less time and spending hours on still imperfect electronic health records. Burnout has “three inter-related dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and low personal accomplishment.” (3) It is extremely difficult to treat patients with joy if we do not feel it ourselves. There is also evidence that suggests that “expecting health professionals to deliver safe, efficient and patient centered care, while they are getting more and more burnt-out, is not only ineffective but also costly and dangerous as indicated by the increasing numbers of medical mistakes, and patient neglect.”(4)
What does Judaism teach us about finding joy in medicine? For this paper I will examine the Maimonides’ concepts of “physician-hood” as outlined by Gesundheit (“the biblical obligation to return lost objects to their owner…the religious duty to maintain a healthy life-style; as an important natural science, medicine offers tools to recognize, love, and fear G-d”) (5) in the context of my practice of medicine and the joy I find in taking care of patients.
Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote “to live as a Jew means to feel the soul in everything, in others and in our own existence…Everything that has within it the spirit of life longs for repair.” (1) As physicians we hope to repair the bodies of others, even if we feel soul-repair is not in our domain. How should physicians approach their patients in repair? Maimonides said “a physician should treat his patients with optimism, joy, and utmost kindness.” (2)
In our modern world, many physicians experience burnout, faced with the pressures of seeing more patients in less time and spending hours on still imperfect electronic health records. Burnout has “three inter-related dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and low personal accomplishment.” (3) It is extremely difficult to treat patients with joy if we do not feel it ourselves. There is also evidence that suggests that “expecting health professionals to deliver safe, efficient and patient centered care, while they are getting more and more burnt-out, is not only ineffective but also costly and dangerous as indicated by the increasing numbers of medical mistakes, and patient neglect.”(4)
What does Judaism teach us about finding joy in medicine? For this paper I will examine the Maimonides’ concepts of “physician-hood” as outlined by Gesundheit (“the biblical obligation to return lost objects to their owner…the religious duty to maintain a healthy life-style; as an important natural science, medicine offers tools to recognize, love, and fear G-d”) (5) in the context of my practice of medicine and the joy I find in taking care of patients.