Activity

Activity ID

2943

Expires

January 24, 2025

Format Type

Internet

CME Credit

1.0

Fee

$0

CME Provider: Massachusetts Medical Society

Description of CME Course

MedPEP, the Medical Professionals Empowerment Program, is a Free podcast series jointly provided by Physician Health Services, Inc. (PHS) and the Massachusetts Medical Society.  PHS is a charitable organization dedicated to improving the health, well-being and effectiveness of physicians and medical students.

Regulations, technology, organizational complexity, and the explosion of medical knowledge have created a perfect storm for most practicing health professionals. Physician burnout rates now exceed 50%. MedPEP’s star, Dr. Marie Curious, is a young, primary care internist who has started to fantasize about leaving the profession that she loves. On her MedPEP journey, Marie joins Dr. Les Schwab and a group of specialized physicians, coaches, and other experts, who offer a broad range of practical techniques to help her survive and thrive in today’s tough medical environment. The territory they cover includes nutrition, exercise, getting along with difficult colleagues, dealing with bureaucracy and bosses, multi-tasking, system improvement, meditation, and addiction. The MedPEP journey helps Marie, and other health professionals facing similar challenges, gain insight into practical methods for empowering themselves as well as their teams, employers, and the broken system.

After reviewing Marie’s effort to take time for lunch, Dr. Schwab introduces her to Margaret Moore, MBA (a.k.a. Coach Meg), founder of the first health and wellness coaching school in the United States. Coach Meg points out that physicians are trained first and foremost to focus on their patients’ well-being and often feel guilty when they pause to take care of themselves. “We’re not a healthy society, emotionally or physically. And it’s hard to imagine us getting that [patient care] done without the health care workforce also being well.” Coach Meg presents multiple definitions of well-being and delineates the relationship between resilience and positive emotions. Maintaining an upbeat, open-minded, and flexible perspective may counteract the stress encountered during a busy clinic session. Coach Meg talks to Marie about coaching herself during the course of the work day. Short breaks, deep breaths, and glancing at a pleasant image may be helpful. Meg motivates Marie to take a high-level look at herself and her life, and to start re-examining the path forward and its sustainability. Coach Meg and Dr. Schwab inspire Marie to see if she can begin to locate her own personal “off switch” before the next episode.

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ABMS Member Board Approvals by Type
More Information
Commercial Support?
No

NOTE: If a Member Board has not deemed this activity for MOC approval as an accredited CME activity, this activity may count toward an ABMS Member Board’s general CME requirement. Please refer directly to your Member Board’s MOC Part II Lifelong Learning and Self-Assessment Program Requirements.

Educational Objectives

Balance one’s focus on patient-centered care and patient well-being with physician self-care and integrate into one’s personal practice an awareness that adequate and effective self-care provide a foundation for excellent patient care.
Recognize various definitions of well-being and ways of integrating and sustaining well-being in the course of daily medical practice.

Keywords

Physician Wellness, Professionalism, Self Care

Competencies

Interpersonal & Communication Skills, Practice-based Learning & Improvement, Professionalism

CME Credit Type

AMA PRA Category 1 Credit

Physician Well-being activity

Personal Resilience

Practice Setting

Inpatient, Outpatient, Physician Executives, Rural, Urban, VA/Military

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The information provided on this page is subject to change. Please refer to the CME Provider’s website to confirm the most current information.