Doctor Wellbeing

Western medicine is the modern model of healthcare, but is it supporting our collective wellbeing?

The roots of medicine are ancient, going back to the time of Hippocrates and Plato and beyond, to a time when physicians were healers, scientists, philosophers and deeply religious people, who cared for the whole health and wellbeing of themselves and those they lived to serve.

Today’s evidence based medicine is ever-developing at a rate that is hard for us to keep up with, but is it working for us as individuals and as a collective whole?

Why are the rates of illness and disease rising?

Why are people getting sicker at earlier and earlier ages?

Why are we seeing a rise in lifestyle related diseases when we know what is causing them and therefore how to deal with them?

And why are so many practitioners being harmed in and by their practice of medicine?

Is the very evidence-based knowledge that we revere, something that we are applying to ourselves, when it comes to lifestyle-related diseases?

Evidence-based medicine on its own is clearly not enough, and there is more to the practise of true medicine, which is an art, as well as a science. For medicine to be healing, it needs to be practised with love and care, for our patients and for ourselves.

Current reports about the levels of depression, anxiety, burnout and exhaustion among doctors, and the heartbreaking stories of doctor suicides, have forced us as a profession to take an honest look at our own health and wellbeing.

We are not superhuman, but we try to live and work as if we are superheroes, and working and living like this takes its toll on ourselves, our loved ones and our patients. Perhaps it is time to accept that we are human, that we are imperfect, that we are affected by everything we see, feel and live, and to start treating ourselves as the precious, tender beings that we innately are.

This could be the beginning of us returning to live with a true quality of wellbeing where we wake up feeling vital, full of energy and enthusiasm for our work and for the day – instead of the suffering, distress, hardship, and physical and mental illness that many of us are now experiencing.

Imagine the joy, productivity and quality of care of a medical profession that lived in a way that developed that quality of true wellbeing. This is not idealistic – we felt this way as children and we can return to it again – and it is achievable by making simple changes in our lives.

To shift from the current medical culture of struggle, depletion and misery to one of joy, fullness and vitality requires that we make love and care the foundation of medicine – starting with ourselves – so that it is imbued into the culture of medicine from the moment we enter medical school and becomes the living way of our great profession.

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Latest Articles on Doctor Wellbeing

Vanishing point Alan Johnston 25.09.23 for article by Dr Anne Malatt on Illness

Illness is an offering, not a punishment

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I am currently ill, and far from feeling frustrated or upset about it, I see this illness is an offering, not a punishment.
To the light by Alan Johnston for article by Dr Anne Malatt on LIfe as a country doctor

Life as a country doctor

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I attended a function last night in the town where I live and work, at which we hosted our young doctors and talked to...
If music be the food of love play on - calligraphy image for article on music by Dr Anne Malatt

If music be the food of love, play on!

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The thing I have come to learn about music is that it is first and foremost a vibration, that is felt in the body. We think we are listening to something with our ears, and we are, but we are primarily resonating with the vibration of it and it can literally change the way we feel.
Profile of woman smoking for article by Dr Anne Malatt on Why do doctors smoke?

Why do doctors smoke?

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We all know the harms of smoking and in fact there is nothing healing about it, so why do doctors smoke?
sleeping baby in stripes for article by Dr Anne Malatt

Self-care programme 2022: 7. Sleep

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Welcome to Day 7 of 2022 and the opportunity to bring more love to your body and your life through the simple daily practice of self-care. Today is a moment to sleep.
glass of water for article on self-care by Dr Anne Malatt

Self-care programme 2022: 6. Drink

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Welcome to Day 6 of 2022 and the opportunity to bring more love to your body and your life through the simple daily practice of self-care. Today is a moment on drink.
food for blog Self-care programme 2022: 5. Eat by Dr Anne Malatt

Self-care programme 2022: 5. Eat

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Welcome to 2022 and the opportunity to bring more love to your body and your life through the simple daily practice of self-care. Today is a moment to eat ... But what, and why?
walking into sunset for article on moving/walking by Dr Anne Malatt

Self-care programme 2022: 4. Move

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Welcome to Day 4 of 2022 and the opportunity to bring more love to your body and your life through the simple daily practise of self-care. Today is a moment to move.
baby in their body for article on be in the body by Dr Anne Malatt

Self-care programme 2022: 3. Be in your body

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Welcome to Day 3 of 2022 and the opportunity to bring more love to your body and your life through the simple daily practise of self-care. Today is a moment to be in your body.
feather floating in sky for article on breath by Dr Anne Malatt

Self-care programme 2022: 2. Breathe

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Welcome to Day 2 of 2022 and the opportunity to bring more love to your body and your life through the simple daily practise of self-care. Today is a moment to breathe.
stop sign for article on Self-care programme 2022: 1. Stop by Dr Anne Malatt

Self-care programme 2022: 1. Stop

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Welcome to 2022 and the opportunity to bring more love to your body and your life through the simple daily practise of self-care. It starts with a stop.
Nirmanakaya sky for article on New Year's resolutions by Dr Anne Malatt

The year in review – letting go of new year’s resolutions

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As this year draws to a close, it may be tempting to review the year through the lens of regret and make (another set of) new year’s resolutions, but what if there were another way of looking at this time of year, that comes around, every year.
Photo of Dr Michael Myers for article by Dr Michael Myers

National Physician Suicide Awareness Day 2021: With Gratitude to the Feists

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A beautiful blog by Dr Michael Myers, on the recent National Physician Suicide Awareness Day and the great work being done by Jennifer and Corey Feist, founders of the Dr Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation, one of the missions of which is “We envision a world where seeking mental health services is universally viewed as a sign of strength for health care professionals.”.
lonely tree for article on true resilience by Dr Anne Malatt

True Resilience

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The key to developing true resilience is to care for ourselves and restore our sense of innate wholeness and worth, learning to love and appreciate ourselves just for who we are and to honour our innate sensitivity, letting the wisdom of our body guide our way, each and every day.
AJ Held dawn 23 July 2021 for article by Dr Anne Malatt on a Wellbeing Charter for Doctors

A Wellbeing Charter for Doctors

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The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) in conjunction with several other medical colleges and more to come, has just released a Wellbeing Charter for Doctors. This is a great first step in acknowledging the importance of self-care in healthcare professionals and the need for this care to be a shared responsibility for all of us.
isolated-image for RUOK Day

R U OK? Day

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This year, 9 September is R U OK? Day. This is an Australian initiative that was developed in 2009 by a man whose father was not OK and died by suicide.
pale pink rose in Virgo 20 for article by Dr Anne Malatt on Standards

Standards

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We all have standards. They may not always be the same standards, but we all have them. Values that we hold dear, points of truth we will not compromise, a way of living that we hold as sacred.
poppies

Spring Cleaning You   

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Spring is such a beautiful time of the year. So why not take the time to love ourselves, inside and out, and refresh the way we feel about ourselves and life?
Photo of Dr Michael Myers for article by Dr Michael Myers

It Is Never Too Late

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My name is Evan Haines*. I’m writing you because I believe my mother, who, sadly, committed suicide in 1989, was under your care. I remember your name, and that she always thought very highly of you.
Photo of complex images by Alan Johnston for article on mindfulness by Dr Anne Malatt

Mindfulness and Conscious Presence

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We hear the word ‘mindfulness’ mentioned a lot these days, but what is it? How do you do it? And what does it do for you?
AJ Sliver of golden moon 20210411

The Art and Science of Repose

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Repose is not a word that is used much these days, but it once was, as seen in this graph of its use over time. Repose is a quality we could perhaps do with more of, so what is it, how do we do it and where do we start?
Self care Moments 17 cycles

Self-care Moments: Living in cycles

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Hi, this is Anne Malatt with self-care moments and this is a moment on living in cycles. We think that we live a day in a linear way and move from one day to the next, leaving each one behind us as we go. In truth, we live in cycles. We live one day, over and over again, and everything comes with us as we go around and around the sun.
Self care Moments 1 tension

Self-care moments: A moment with tension

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Hi this is Anne Malatt with self-care moments, and this is a moment on tension.Tension is an inescapable part of human life. We are subject to forces of tension all the time ... so how do we deal with tension?
Self care Moments 2 working

Self-care moments: Working

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We spend around a third of our days and most of our waking hours working, getting ready for work and travelling to and from work … how do we feel about work and in what quality do we spend that time?
Self care Moments 8 take a break

Self-care moments: Taking a break

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Taking a break is not a time to escape from our bodies and our lives, but a time to enjoy being in our bodies even more deeply, and to appreciate ourselves, just for who we are.
Self care Moments 3 drinking

Self-care moments: Drinking

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If you think you may be drinking too much alcohol, you probably are, knowing that even one drink is not good for you. So consider looking at why you drink and you may just find that waiting inside you is a younger you who does not like the taste of alcohol, but who loves you, just as you are … and let that essence of you and the knowing of your body, guide your way through life.
Self care Moments 9 eating

Self-care moments: Eating

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I love eating food and always have. I have come to understand that there is a purpose to food beyond stimulating and satisfying the senses.
Photo of Dr Michael Myers for article by Dr Michael Myers

Remembering Dr. Lorna Breen on National Physician Suicide Awareness Day

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September 17, 2020, marked the third annual National Physician Suicide Awareness Day. This is a day to remember physicians who have taken their own lives.
Thistle

Anxiety in the body – Anxiety in Medicine; Deconstructing our ‘Normal’

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Let’s be honest, as doctors and health professionals we learn to live with anxiety in the body. Not all at once perhaps, but by degrees.
Photo of lighthouse for article by a doctor's wife called Lighthouse

Lighthouse

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We are each and every one of us a lighthouse, designed to shine bright and light the way for others. It is for us to let that light out and shine in full, reminding everyone we meet that they too are that light, for this light lives inside us all, and we are all here to shine and light the way home together.