The practice of dentistry can be very rewarding. It can also be very stressful. Practicing finely-tuned expertise in the service of helping people get healthy and stay healthy can bring the greatest satisfaction of any work, and can return wellbeing and success to the engaged clinician.
On the other hand, long hours with physical challenges and many difficult interactions with patients can cause chronic stress, with its worrisome consequences--physical symptoms, emotional symptoms, loss of vital energy, and dysfunctional ways of managing the stress like dependence on addictive substances. Unrelieved chronic stress leads to burnout and impairment of the clinician’s ability to practice.
“Staying well” programs educate clinicians about the range of functioning at work—from the high end of engagement to the low end of chronic stress and burnout. Clinicians learn to recognize and capitalize on opportunities to enhance engagement and resolve risks of burnout in their particular practice.
This one-hour webinar is a call to action—urging clinicians to take care of themselves. It provides an overview of our evidence base about how to increase the rewards of clinical practice, and how to manage and reduce the stress.
Follow-up programs can be designed to teach clinicians the practical skills involved in staying well, and improve uptake by planning and practicing how to use them.