PHP and Addiction Resources
The MSDC Physician Health Program is a private, confidential, non-disciplinary program that works to advocate for the health and well-being of all physicians in the metropolitan Washington, DC, area and to safeguard the public.
The Program
is HIPAA compliant and protects the confidentiality of participant records as set forth under DC and Federal law. The program is administered by the Medical Society of DC and is separate from the DC Board of Medicine.
Learn more about this program at our Healthy Physician Foundation page
Support Your Colleagues
Do you want to help support your fellow physicians going through their own struggles? The Healthy Physician Foundation supports the PHP and our efforts to supports physicians in need. Your generous gift allows MSDC to continue this important program and extend our reach to all physicians.
Study: Pre-Vaccine Pandemic Expanded Moral Injury to All Healthcare Workers
We know moral injury was on the rise prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and the pandemic has been a traumatic event. In case there was any doubt that it has compounded moral injury in the healthcare workforce, a new study confirms what we have all experienced.
Publish last week in the JAMA Network Open, the study surveyed professionals during two time periods ("phases") before a COVID vaccine became available: April 24-May 30, 2020 and October 24-November 30, 2020. The survey captured over 1,800 individual responses from the physician, nursing, advanced practice practitioner, and chaplain professions. The authors concluded from the data that moral injury came not from one event but from continued exposure and morally injurious environments.
Studying responses showed the following:
- Moral injury in the first phase of questions came from fear of the virus and infection, but in the second phase moral injury came from the routinization of treating people infected with the virus.
- Lack of PPE was a major driver in moral injury in phase 1 but decreased substantially as more PPE was available on phase 2.
- Over both phases respondents reported increased isolation due to fear of being infected or assuming people were infected and hiding their symptoms. The increased distance - physical and emotion - was a self-reported cause of much moral injury.
- Over both phases, healthcare practitioners felt burned out due to a physical distance from patients, due to COVID protocols and reliance on telemedicine.
- Many practitioners felt betrayed by employers in phase 1 due to PPE shortages and requirements. One respondent wrote, "I felt our lives were more disposable than our PPE was".
The study concludes that the workplace bears a large responsibility to address to moral injury the last two years has caused. Urging employers to move beyond slogans like, "heroes work here", the authors propose proactive treatments such as:
- Providing adequate PPE
- Available PTO
- Support for childcare needs
- Nearby lodging for individuals on rapid-cycle shifts
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