Body in motion: Why exercise may be the most under-prescribed intervention for physicians
Industry Buzz
There is evidence of a strong inverse relationship between higher levels of physical activity and lower levels of burnout.
—Liz Joy, MD
You want to work as hard at your personal life as you do in your professional life, and if you do that, that's where really the big benefits are. That's where the real rewards come from.
—Bert Mandelbaum, MD
Do you practice what you preach?
Prescribing exercise can be a powerful intervention for patients, but physicians are at risk of letting their own physical activity drop due to competing priorities.
“Generally speaking, physicians are more likely to meet physical activity (PA) guidelines compared to the general population. Which is good, because physically active doctors are more likely to counsel their patients to be physically active. However, recent studies would suggest that busy physicians are not getting enough exercise,” Liz Joy, MD, a family, sports & lifestyle medicine physician, former president of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), and chair of the ACSM’s Exercise is Medicine Governance Committee, tells MDLinx.
“There is evidence of a strong inverse relationship between higher levels of PA and lower levels of burnout. Physicians who engage in regular activity report better stress relief, decreased emotional exhaustion, and higher quality of life," she says.
Sharpen the spear
Bert Mandelbaum, MD, is a sports medicine specialist, orthopedic surgeon, and co-director of the Regenerative Orthobiologic Center at Cedars-Sinai Orthopaedics in Los Angeles.
He argues that engaging in regular physical activity can help physicians keep up with the demands of their profession.
“You have to sharpen the tip of your spear, so to speak, as a physician, to help give you clarity, to help give you authenticity, to help give you better thought processes and physical stamina, resilience, tolerance, adaptation, and durability. And when you exercise, you increase all of that. As a physician, you give yourself the stamina to wake up every day and deal with the stresses and the challenges that we have, each of us as physicians. It will reduce the potential of burnout and keep people at a higher plane of function and better able to deal with those stresses of daily work activities,” he tells MDLinx.
“You want to work as hard at your personal life as you do in your professional life, and if you do that, that's where really the big benefits are. That's where the real rewards come from,” he adds.
Promoting exercise to patients
The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommends that adults should aim for at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic activity each week.[]
Adults should also participate in muscle strengthening exercises, like doing push ups or lifting weights on at least two days of the week.[]
Research suggests that physicians who themselves meet the recommended exercise guidelines may be more likely to promote these guidelines to their patients.[]
But Dr. Joy notes physicians aren’t always eager to participate in employee wellness programs designed to increase physical activity.
“My experience living and practicing in Utah,” she says, “is that physicians generally (albeit not universally) know that regular exercise is good for them, their families, and their patients. However, when we tried to engage physicians in "physical activity programs," the engagement was pretty low compared to other members of the healthcare team. The feedback I got was that they were ‘doing fine on their own’ and didn't need a walking challenge or step challenge to be active.”
“Now whether they were doing activity on their own, I don't know, but they were considerably less engaged in our employee wellness programming,” she continues. “I think there is definitely an opportunity to focus efforts and resources on physician physical activity, recognizing their unique needs and barriers.”
Reducing burnout
Burnout, high stress, poor job satisfaction, and depression are just some of the potential job-related consequences facing practicing physicians.[]
Research indicates that physical activity can reduce the risk of burnout among health care workers, especially in the areas of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization.[]
Becky Lowry, MD, chief wellness officer for The University of Kansas Health System and internal medicine specialist, says just like their patients, physicians can take steps to adapt their physical activity to work with their demanding schedules.
“Physicians are humans and experience the benefits of exercise like other humans. We are all wonderfully unique and our exercise plans often need to be individualized to our bodies, schedules, and preferences. The good news is that there are many ways to adapt exercise routines to fit those things,” she says.