I am not your burnout expert

While hopelessness is part and parcel of the burnout syndrome, there are now potential solutions within our grasp. Clearly a reduction in clerical duties will be a key component of any realistic plan. Our time must be proportioned. Few of us are asking to work less. Reducing patient interactions while increasing the average time of these encounters has been shown to reduce burnout without decreasing work hours. We want to do a good job. It is time to remove these barriers.

Our next steps have already been taken, and for me it represents the best example of the potential of Vascular Specialist and the SVS. Under the leadership of SVS President Clem Darling, MD, and Executive Director Ken Slaw, PhD, a task force was created to address this issue. Ably chaired by Dawn Coleman, MD, and including Sam Money, MD, from the SVS Executive Council and Past SVS President Julie Freischlag, MD, the task force has collaborated with actual burnout experts Tait Shanafelt, MD, and Susan Hallbeck, PhD, to create a survey designed to identify the causes, prevalence, and potential solutions to the burnout problem in vascular surgery.

The first survey has been completed and will be issued to all SVS members this month to coincide with the SCVS annual symposium. The second, which will focus more on physical issues, will be released during the VAM in June.

Look, no one hates surveys more than I do. We simply have to get this information. Each survey is designed to only take 10 minutes. Things are going to change one way or another. Let’s lead, not wait to follow. With your help this will be the last time I write this ignorantly on this crisis. Vascular surgeons are few in number but this gives us the potential to deliver the most comprehensive self-assessment any specialty has ever performed. Lend your voice to the coming change.