Timothy Riley, MD, wants to make it clear that his peers are not the problem.
“I don’t think we have a resilience deficit among family physicians,” said Riley, associate professor and associate vice president for wellness at Penn State’s Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. “We can’t blame the toast for burning. It is the environment that must change.
Riley, who is also a senior faculty at the Penn State Hershey Family Medicine Residency, will be the guest speaker for two upcoming free webinars focused on physician suicide awareness and prevention:
“Isolation is one of the most dangerous things for someone who is suffering from burnout, depression or suicidal ideation,” Riley said. “What I hope is that people leave these webinars feeling empowered and inspired to say something to a colleague who might be in distress so that they can make a connection when someone really needs it.” »
Riley, who suffered from asthma and allergies as a child while growing up in Syracuse, New York, knew from middle school that he wanted to become a family doctor. Spending nine months with Joseph Hinterberger, MD, FAAFP, at his comprehensive family practice in Watkins Glen, New York, as part of SUNY Upstate Medical University’s rural training program, solidified Riley’s career choice.
Even though he was doing what he dreamed of, Riley found himself suffering from burnout after seven years of community practice.
“I myself experienced what it was like to not feel fulfilled by the work I was doing,” he said. “Every patient, and every issue raised by patients, was little more than an obstacle to getting to the end of the day and a source of frustration rather than an opportunity to help someone. »
Riley recognized that he was burned out by clinical medicine and transitioned to an academic role with fewer clinical duties. At the Hershey residency program, he was responsible for developing a practice management program.
“I was well aware that one of the key things we need to manage is our own well-being, which is why I integrated physician well-being into our practice management program,” he said. -he declares. “This was before the ACGME required it.”
Since then, Riley has taken on roles related to physician wellness at the local and national levels. He participated in AAFP activities Leading Physician Wellness Program in 2022 and was a speaker at the Academy Family Physician Health and Wellness Conference for two years. He was also a professor at the AAFP Resident well-being and burn-out prevention project ECHOleading a session on physician substance use, depression and suicide.
“I’m grateful to have accepted this challenge,” he said of ECHO, which offers residents free online peer-to-peer learning sessions. “The more I learned about depression and suicide among doctors, the more it became something I was passionate about. I feel like I need to spread the word and help people feel empowered to make change.
Along the way, Riley also learned a lot about mindfulness and now teaches this topic as well.
“It really allowed me to take on the challenges with more ease and soak up the joyful elements of the practice,” he said. “I am now in a much better position to meet the challenges my patients present. I am better able to prioritize self-care in a healthy way and I take care of my friends and colleagues.
Riley spends approximately 75% of her time on clinical work, including supervising residents.
“What really pushed me into academic medicine was that I didn’t do well in purely clinical work, but what kept me in academic medicine was the genuine joy I feel when I interact with learners — teaching students, teaching. residents and supervise them. It was a great source of fulfillment for me.
Riley, who graduated from Lancaster General Hospital’s family medicine residency program in 2005, was among the first wave of residents trained with restrictions on work hours. Since then, he has seen an increase in the number of resources available to students, residents and doctors to ensure their well-being.
“I think there’s tremendous hope for our profession and our specialty as the next generation comes in, because I think there’s been a sea change in the culture,” he said.
Riley said doctors can make a difference not only by taking care of themselves, but also by advocating for change.
“I’ve had the opportunity to have a few conversations with people who operate the levers of power at the local and national level, and they don’t always have a clear idea of which levers to pull,” he said . “The people who do the work must be the ones who come up with solutions. We must get involved.
