This book is about the well-being of today's female physicians. The woman who chooses medicine as a career has a challenge that is in many ways unique, yet somehow similar to other women who are breaking the barriers in many professions. The increasing number of career women is an outgrowth of the women's and anti-discrimination movements which have not yet freed the majority of women from their previous sociali zation in which women were wives and homemakers. Many men, and of women, are as yet unprepared for the major changes in the roles women which have occurred in the last two decades. Men, whose wives and mothers have held the traditional roles of this century in our industrial society, are the mainstream of medicine. Women physicians, clearly the minority, have been considered unusual anomalies and are thought to lack impact on the whole of medicine. The women who choose medicine do not necessarily see themselves as feminists, or even as beneficients of the women's movement. Their numbers are increasing rapidly, faster than societal norms and ideas can keep up with them. Discrimination has existed, and will continue to exist, at least on an individual basis, but, hopefully, the institutional barriers and myths are being struck down with the increased numbers of women physicians. Women physicians, and the stressors they face, will change as their numbers increase.
Being "so stressed" has to be the most common description for a woman today -- no matter your age or marital status, whether you have a career or work inside the home. Stress is the gift of modern life that keeps on giving, because, even after you've gotten through a stressful day or week, the effects on your body and mind linger, whether you're aware of them or not. And they can build up and make you sick -- unless you do something to stop them. That's where So Stressed, a landmark new guide to women's health, can help. The realization that stress was the most common cause of all the different symptoms and ailments that their patients were coming to them for was a eureka moment for internationally renowned OB-GYN physicians Stephanie McClellan and Beth Hamilton. To find out how stress could be the root cause of diseases as disparate as chronic pain, gynecological disorders and depression,asthma and metabolic disorders, Drs. McClellan and Hamilton embarked on a unique medical quest -- they wanted to find the latest discoveries emerging around the world in the science of stress and put them all together in treatments to help their patients now. Their urgent mission took them to the leading researchers at the best medical centers around the world, where they learned the exciting findings that they reveal in this fascinating new approach to women's health, So Stressed. With information from the medical and psychological sciences of stress that no other practicing physician or clinician has implemented, So Stressed shows you what stress is doing to every cell in your body, how it disrupts the intricate balance of your body's systems, and most important what you can do, starting today, to restore your body's health and prevent yourself from getting sick. Drs. McClellan and Hamilton -- who are widely sought after for their compassionate manner and educational approach to their patients -- have treated more than 16,000 women in their shared three decades of medical practice. Through their timely research and unique, integrative approach to patient care, they have developed four groundbreaking stress types, each with unique patterns for potential illness and disease -- presented here for the first time -- that you can use to identify the ways that stress is affecting your body and mind. Once you know your unique stress profile, the doctors help you learn new ways to see and respond to stress, reduce it and its effects on your body, and even prevent the life-threatening illnesses it causes. You'll find the right program -- specifically designed for the way you fit into your stress type -- with prescriptive advice for the best mental relaxation techniques, nutrition, exercise, and restoration practices for you. Filled with instructive and inspiring case stories from their patients' and their own life experience, Drs. McClellan and Hamilton bridge the gap between the lab bench and the bedside in this comprehensive program for total health.
Patient-centered, high-quality health care relies on the well-being, health, and safety of health care clinicians. However, alarmingly high rates of clinician burnout in the United States are detrimental to the quality of care being provided, harmful to individuals in the workforce, and costly. It is important to take a systemic approach to address burnout that focuses on the structure, organization, and culture of health care. Taking Action Against Clinician Burnout: A Systems Approach to Professional Well-Being builds upon two groundbreaking reports from the past twenty years, To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System and Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century, which both called attention to the issues around patient safety and quality of care. This report explores the extent, consequences, and contributing factors of clinician burnout and provides a framework for a systems approach to clinician burnout and professional well-being, a research agenda to advance clinician well-being, and recommendations for the field.
This second edition of Stress and Women Physicians has been completely updated to include new research material. It reflects the growing interest in what problems women face in the medical profession and how women cope with these problems. The authors have added interview material with commentaries and personal statements from practising women physicians and expanded the discussion in every chapter. They examine alternatives to full-time medical practice and cover more thoroughly than before the social support that women professionals need and receive. This book gives practical advice to women physicians and is excellent for women contemplating a career in the medical profession. "Vast quantities of information regarding female physicians are collected in this single compact volume. ... Because the material is so well referenced, the reader should find this book an excellent resource for beginning research into specific questions about women in medicine." #Mayo Clinic Proceedings#2 "...This book will be useful to all female physicians and to those who advise them." #JAMA#3.
In the years following World War II the health and well-being of the nation was of primary concern to the British government. The essays in this collection examine the relationship between health and stress in post-war Britain through a series of carefully connected case studies.
Discussion of issues facing women in medicine. Includes the history of women in medicine, training, role models, gender inequalities and sexual harassment, child care and maternity leave, financial debt, and specialty choice.
Imagine if people around you had x-ray vision that could capture your inner experience. In your most stressful moments as a physician, what would they see? As a medical doctor, every treatment prescribed or surgery performed carries high stakes for each patient. It can impact their quality of life in significant ways, or literally mean life or death. But the culture of silence in medicine makes it difficult to talk about the unique responsibilities and stresses associated with being a physician. Stress in Medicine challenges this culture of silence. In this remarkably honest and inspiring book, Dr. Nina Ahuja offers a unique glimpse into the world of medicine, sharing personal stories from her own journey that are heartfelt and touching, and at times laugh-out-loud funny. Woven throughout her experiences and observations, Dr. Ahuja's innovative approach to mental and emotional clarity shines through-a practical approach that can lower the stress level of any situation and sharpen your mind when you need it most.
Women are entering medical school in equal numbers as men, yet still face unique challenges in a profession where, overall, male physicians outnumber female physicians 3 to 1. Women in medicine also face decisions such as when to have a child during training and often struggle with work-life balance. This book features real stories and advice from mothers in medicine at all stages of training from medical student to practicing physician and addresses the topics that shape the lives, joys, and challenges of women in medicine today. The book is based on the best posts and wisdom shared on the Mothers in Medicine blog, which was established in 2008 by the editor and has published over 1500 posts and has over 4.8 million page views to date. The book is organized by themes that are unique to the physician-mother: career decisions, having children during training, navigating life challenges, practice issues, and work-life balance. Each chapter features an excerpt from the blog followed by an honest discussion of the key considerations, guidelines, and tips as related to each topic in the conversational, personal tone of the blog. The book concludes with a chapter that features the most popular questions posted on the Mothers in Medicine blog and a summary of the responses received from the community of readers. Mothers in Medicine: Career, Practice, and Life Lessons Learned is a valuable and contemporary resource for pre-medical students, medical students, residents, and physicians.
The author explores hysteria in Western medicine throughout the ages and examines the characterization of female sexuality as a disease requiring treatment. Medical authorities, she writes, were able to defend and justify the clinical production of orgasm in women as necessary to maintain the dominant view of sexuality, which defined sex as penetration to male orgasm - a practice that consistently fails to produce orgasm in a majority of the female population. This male-centered definition of satisfying and healthy coitus shaped not only the development of concepts of female sexual pathology but also the instrumentation designed to cope with them.
