Slow Down!
Slow down dear doc, rest your tired feet,
Your Fitbit reads 20k steps, it’s 2 p.m. & you are beat!
Multiple rounds of ER-Med Tele & OBS floor,
This hamster wheel is spinning out of control.
Sit down for a bit between patients, give yourself some grace.
The work will get done, for it’s a marathon not a 100m race.
Slow down, you are working yourself to the bone.
Your battery would show 0% if you were an iPhone.
Slow down, rest your weary mind–find your calm.
Pandemic, broken EHR & health care has wounded you, now you need a balm.
Slow down, rest your sapped-out soul.
Seek out what gives you joy, at or outside work.
For some, it might actually be yoga, for many it’s more restful sleep.
For all, if I take a guess, it’s forging human connections that are deep.
Years of Medical school, residency & burning the midnight oil- we have done it all,
Don’t give up on medicine now, we will rise again after each fall.
Be it the look of gratitude in your patient’s eye
Be it your amazing nurse, giving you a high five.
There is something that gives you joy & purpose
Go find it and do more of it, so it preserves us.
We are depleted, but not defeated!
Find joy in Medicine–by witnessing micro-moments of happiness during shift.
Find joy in Life–by forging authentic connections & remember YOU are truly a gift!
Dr. Mehta
Dr. Mehta is a board-certified internal medicine physician working as an adult hospitalist at Common Spirit Health System in Redwood City, Calif. She is chair of the SHM Patient Experience Executive Council, a faculty member of the SHM Wellness Task Force, and an executive board member of the SHM Bay Area Chapter. As the national director of quality and experience for Vituity, Dr. Mehta leads programs designed to help health systems deliver world-class care to more than seven million patients across the U.S.
Slow Down! is Dr. Swati’s submission for the National Hospitalist Day HM Voices contest.