PHYSICIAN WELL-BEING COMMITTEE

Mission
The Physician Well-Being Committee was the concept of past president Lewin Wyatt, Jr., D.O., whose goal was to establish a Program to assist physicians and physician families struggling with life issues. The purpose of the Program is to provide referral to caring, nonjudgmental, highly competent and confidential resources for physicians and physician families.

One of the goals of the Physician Well-Being Committee is to increase awareness and understanding of physicians and physician families and the general public about problems of quality of life issues, mental health disorders and substance abuse and dependency affecting the physician community. Any physician or immediate family member of a physician may voluntarily call the Program seeking assistance. The MOA will furnish physicians and their families with information regarding resources available to provide counseling and treatment.

The Program will maintain cooperative relationships with other agencies and committees that serve either as sources of referral or in providing help.

If you or someone you know needs help, please contact the MOA office at 800-657-1556. Your call will be treated privately and confidentially.

You may also find additional information at the Michigan Health Professionals Recovery Program website.

Other Physician Well-Being Resources
Physicians devote their lives to caring for others, sometimes to the detriment of their own well-being. Dr. John-Henry Pfifferling – a medical anthropologist – has made a career of coaching and educating physicians on how to handle the unique stressors of their occupation. In the fall of 2004, Dr. Pfifferling presented to the leadership of the Michigan Osteopathic Association his solutions for reducing the prevalence of burnout, suffering, and low self-esteem among doctors while improving physician satisfaction, resiliency and effectiveness.

As a service to the rest of the MOA membership, the MOA MCOP Committee recorded Dr. Pfifferling’s presentation and edited it down into the following three .WAV files.

Part I
Part II
Part III

More information on Dr. Pfifferling at the Center for Professional Well Being is available at http://www.cpwb.org/.