Ever read a book that changed your priorities?
Ever read a
book that changed your priorities?
Virginia “Ginny” Mohl, MD, PhD, Co-Chair AIAMC NI VIII on Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion (JEDI)
Warning!
My priorities were changed by the ideas and stories of this book. You might
find yourself questioning many of your own currently tightly held goals and
aspirations. Proceed with caution
Remember
community?
As I write this, we are just 6
months short of three years of living in a global pandemic. Is there anything
more critical for those of us accountable for our next generation of healers
than to empower more connected lives?
That was not exactly my priority
as I browsed the shelves at our local bookstore. But when I picked up Together,
The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World by
Vivek H Murthy, MD and chanced to read a little about a group that
was using a rented building to create places for men to gather and build
things, I chuckled at the image and thought of a few patients who would benefit
from such a program.
I drove away, then stopped and
turned back because there were a lot of my patients that would benefit from
that type of program- and a lot of my colleagues, learners, friends and family
members. If “man sheds” were a
therapeutic idea, what other innovative ideas for helping people reconnect
might be in that book?
When I drove back to pick up this
book, I didn’t realize that it had been written by the 19th Surgeon General of
the United States or that his 4-year term had been ended early with the
election of Donald Trump or that President Biden has brought him back as the 21St
Surgeon General as of March 2021. Not only was I intrigued by this book enough
to make a special trip back to get it, but I have continued to be obsessed by Dr.
Vivek Muthy’s thoughtful unmasking of the “loneliness
pandemic” and the vulnerability and courage of the stories that he shares
about people who are working to create more connected lives.
If that feels overwhelming to
you, stop reading this and go find the April 2014 AAMC piece by Dr. Davoren
Chick and others on the Bio-Psychosocial care of uninsured, homeless, underserved and at-risk populations.
Better yet, go watch Dr. Chick’s presentation for the AIAMC Webinar on Education Post-Covid: Virtual Learning, Workforce Needs, and Integration of Healthcare Ethics. This
compelling webinar is part of the AIAMC’s 2022 webinar series and its “Lessons
Learned from Unexpected Disruptions” track.
Dr. Chick reminds us that we are not alone in caring for our most
vulnerable patients, that we are part of a team.
Team, ah, that’s right. We
practice, teach, and learn as part of a community. At least we used to before
the flood of patients raised our high-water marks beyond the usual boundaries
of time, effort and medical infrastructure.
Have you noticed that our
high-water marks have been changed forever? That the flow of our work is now in
different channels. Living in Red Lodge, Montana, a community that recently
experienced a “500 year” flood, my thoughts are with the communities in
Kentucky who have also been deluged.
While it was concern for my
patients and curiosity about that “men’s shed” idea that drew me into the book,
that was only the beginning. In some ways, I feel swallowed and made whole
again by this amazingly timely book is entitled: Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World.
Take the section on
befriending ourselves. When we feel socially isolated, and people do not
seem to know us, it is easy to lose ourselves. We, all of us, leaders, healers,
patients, learners and educators can become blind to each other’s many talents
as well as lose our ability to recognize loneliness as the cause of so much of
our suffering. What Dr. Muthy describes as the “fog of loneliness” can be triggered
by an abrupt change in environment such as that faced by most of our
interns.
•
Are we prepared to orientate them positively
with the additional support needed for these times of rapid change?
•
Are we addressing the negative consequences of
ingrained competition including negative self-talk?
•
Do we support the residents who know all the
clinical trials and ignore the ones who “just make people feel better?”
•
How do we teach the residents the importance of
caring for themselves, of recognizing fatigue for example, if we have not
discovered that we too need to prioritize our own human needs?
Are you making quick judgements
about others? Of course, you are. I am also guilty of judging. But we are also
too quick to judge our selves as well. It is only when we learn to befriend
ourselves; prioritize self-knowledge, self-compassion, and self-acceptance;
incorporate moments of pause for reflection that we can reconnect with our
selves. This reconnection to our own selves is critical to reconnecting with
others.
Pause
My Friend
It is only when the heart relaxes
in diastole that the arteries to the heart fill with oxygenated blood, Dr.
Muthy reminds us. Pausing sustains the
heart.
Warning
– This Book May Change Your Life Too!
This brings us back to the
warning that started this discussion. While reading and reflecting on Dr
Murthy’s key strategies, I found myself reflecting on the importance of
spending time with people you love. Because of my work, my husband and I were
living 60 miles apart as I work in Billings as DIO and see patients there three
days a week while he continued to work and coach track in Red Lodge.
As a direct result of this
reflection, we sold the property we had purchased in Billings and now I am able
to have coffee with my husband every morning and on nice days we run our dogs
in the local forest. At work, we have moved our monthly Office of Medical
Education to a local park where we share ideas and coffee and imagine a future
where we are able to provide educational opportunities across our rural and
underserved area. We have invited all our residents; Medical, Pharmacy; Dental,
to our upcoming BBQ and included leaders from across Wyoming and Montana to
build our community. And our Internal Medicine Residency together with our
amazing new Director of Primary Care has created a Native American Emersion Day
where Residents will spend a week learning from our neighbors in our Tribal
communities.
I think I will let you go
discover the hidden power of the “men’s shed adoption program” and other
innovative community building tools in your own solitude. Without distraction
or disturbance, check out the book, Together by Vivek H. Murthy.
You have been warned.
Some of Murthy’s Key Strategies
1.
Spend time each day with those you love. Devote at
least 15 minutes each day to connecting with those you most care about. Focus
on each other.
2.
Forget about multitasking and give the other person the
gift of your full attention, making eye contact, if possible, and genuinely
listening.
3.
Embrace solitude. The first step toward building
stronger connections with others is to build a stronger connection with
oneself. Meditation, prayer, art, music, and time spent outdoors can all be
sources of solitary comfort and joy.
4. Help and be helped. Service is a form of human connection that reminds us of our value and purpose in life. Checking on a neighbor, seeking advice, even just offering a smile to a stranger six feet away, all can make us stronger.
Virginia “Ginny” Mohl, MD,
PhD, is the DIO and Medical Director of Education, Billings Clinic and Co-Chair
AIAMC NI VIII on Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion (JEDI)
References
Chick
D, Bigelow A, Seagull FJ, Rye H, Davis P, Williams B. Caring With Compassion,
domain 2: bio-psychosocial care of uninsured, homeless, underserved, and
at-risk populations. MedEdPORTAL. 2014. https://doi.org/10.15766/mep_2374