Physician Burnout: An Oncologist’s Tips for Work-Life Balance

Ravi Shankar, MD, an oncologist with the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of Keck Medicine of USC, shares five key strategies that help him maintain a healthy work-life balance.

I’ve been burned out and overwhelmed plenty of times throughout my 10-year career.

Work-life balance is a struggle for many physicians, not only due to the demands of the job but the type of personality the job attracts. At the start of our careers, we have to work incredibly hard, to the point where a single-minded focus becomes necessary. There’s always a new high-stakes goal to aim for. And for many of us, that mindset didn’t just switch off once we finished our education.

We carried it with us because we needed to think about building a practice, seeing a minimum number of patients a day and getting new consults. Additionally, our field demands a surprising amount of networking. And medicine is not a stagnant field — it’s always evolving. There’s always new data coming out, new clinical trials, new treatments and more for doctors to keep up with.

Early on in my career, finding some sort of work-life balance was difficult, to say the least. I was at work many nights past 7 or 8 p.m. As a father of three, I knew I’d have to find a balance.

Delegation is key

The first step was to become efficient in my work. This did not mean rushing through patients. Instead, I made a list of tasks that could be delegated. Even today, it’s crucial for me to have a strong support staff, even if it’s just one person, that I know I can trust and rely on.

Slow and steady wins the race

Time-consuming tasks like inpatient paperwork are often easier to handle when broken up into small increments that I can tackle throughout the day. I usually start by coming in a little early, then I work through a little more at lunch. It’s important to not leave those things until the end of the day when mental exhaustion has set in.

Physician, nourish thyself

How we treat ourselves outside of work is critical. For the most part, physicians are quite healthy because we appreciate how certain choices are going to impact our bodies and minds. We tend to have an exercise routine, and we try to eat healthy.

That said, there’s never a lack of junk food in a medical office. It’s not uncommon for patients to bring donuts and pastries out of kindness, which makes it hard to stick to a healthy diet.

I try to bring my own lunch because if I eat out or have something a patient brought in, it’s usually not good for me.

Remember what matters

Because I prioritize my family, I’ve had to find creative solutions when budgeting my time for self-care.

Meal prepping helps many people save time throughout the week. Most people I know do this on Sundays, but that’s never worked for me because that’s a day reserved for spending time with my kids.

So, on Mondays, I’ll go ahead and eat out. Then I’ll do my food prep that evening so I can bring my lunch in for the rest of the week. And I do enjoy snacking, so I try to make healthier snacks.

At least three or four days a week I go to the gym before work, usually at 6 a.m., because if I go in the evenings I miss time with my kids. (Also, I’m usually too tired after a shift.)

In addition to how I schedule meal prep and exercise, I also make attending my kids’ games, recitals and other events my top priority. Again, it comes down to knowing you can rely on your team.

When patients need help after hours

It’s important to me to remain accessible to patients and colleagues after I leave work. At Keck Medicine of USC, we have an app that allows physicians to contact each other. I usually give most physicians my cell phone number, too, as well as other providers, including the nursing staff at the hospital. On certain evenings, the incoming messages can get overwhelming.

We mitigate this with a rotating on-call schedule that allows us to rely on our colleagues to care for our patients. We all support each other this way, and it helps a great deal.

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