Better Finances,
Better Mental Health
STRESSES REL ATED TO PHYSICIAN WORKLOADS
AND TO THE VERY NATURE OF CARING FOR
OTHER HUMAN BEINGS ARE OBVIOUS RISK
FACTORS FOR BURNOUT, DEPRESSION AND
OTHER MENTAL HE ALTH CONCERNS.
BY STEVE BARRETT
HOW E V ER, PH YSICI A N S SHOULD not underestimate the
role that negative financial circumstances can play in those
issues as well.
Blogging on the life sciences website STAT, fourth-year medi-
cal student Giffin Daughtridge and radiation oncologist Neha
Vapiwala, MD, point to rising educational costs and debt, as well
as stagnant salaries, as drivers of financial worries. Below are
some of the reforms they urge to address this.
Enhanced incentive programs. Improving benefits that
encourage physicians to enter critical-need fields and broadening
loan forgiveness programs can alleviate finance-related stress.
Strategic philanthropy. Donors to medical schools can be
apprised of physicians' financial concerns and urged to earmark
funds for tuition relief.
Better counseling. Students considering medical school
should have access to sound information about the financial
commitment involved.
Caution with tuition hikes. Medical schools should consider
raising tuition only in connection to increases in inflation.
Adequate funding for graduate medical education.
Current levels of funding to pay residents should be protected
or expanded.
"Instead of just treating burnout and depression among
physicians, let's also treat some of their root causes — debt and
financial stress," Daughtridge and Dr. Vapiwala write.
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