When Steve Hyman, MD, from Nashville, Tennessee, looks back, he doesn't like the person he used to be.
'I was a lot meaner then,' says Hyman, an anesthesiologist. 'I was a lot less tolerant. I had a chronic depression and I didn't know what the problem was.' Attributing his malaise to his workplace, he switched practices. It didn't help.
It wasn't until Dr. Hyman cut back his work schedule to 3 days a week and started using his newfound spare time to indulge a forgotten passion for piano that he was able to pinpoint the root of his problem: burnout.
Today Dr. Hyman happily splits his time between medicine and music. Three days a week he is in the operating room. The rest of the time he is a concert pianist performing recitals and playing with regional orchestras.
Dr. Hyman wasn't able to avoid burnout, but he was fortunate to find a way out of the abyss. It's something that other doctors can do as well."
'I was a lot meaner then,' says Hyman, an anesthesiologist. 'I was a lot less tolerant. I had a chronic depression and I didn't know what the problem was.' Attributing his malaise to his workplace, he switched practices. It didn't help.
It wasn't until Dr. Hyman cut back his work schedule to 3 days a week and started using his newfound spare time to indulge a forgotten passion for piano that he was able to pinpoint the root of his problem: burnout.
Today Dr. Hyman happily splits his time between medicine and music. Three days a week he is in the operating room. The rest of the time he is a concert pianist performing recitals and playing with regional orchestras.
Dr. Hyman wasn't able to avoid burnout, but he was fortunate to find a way out of the abyss. It's something that other doctors can do as well."
