“As institutions, one of the most powerful things we can do to foster social connections in the workplace,” he said. Part of treating loneliness is creating moments for genuine human interaction, which can be achieved on several levels, Dr. While the negative impact of loneliness cannot be denied, the treatment can be relatively simple. “I see it actually as a primary concern, not just as a health concern but as a concern as a society,” Dr. This disconnection affects those in medicine who suffer from burnout, depression, and suicidal ideation. People who are lonely live shorter lives, he said, adding that loneliness has been found to have the same impact on people’s health and lifespan as smoking 15 cigarettes a day for many years.

“Loneliness was the most common pathology I encountered,” he said. One of the most common threads among people he met, he realized, was a profound sense of loneliness and isolation, which studies show have significant negative effects on health. Murthy also explored an “epidemic of loneliness” he said he began to recognize during his tenure as Surgeon General. He noted that courage is not always convenient, and that it is, in fact, a resource “that has to be continuously renewed.”ĭr. “The question becomes what do we do in the face of injustice? To call it out requires courage,” Dr. In their unique place in society and in individuals’ lives, physicians often see injustice and inequity first hand, he said. Murthy said having values and principles isn’t enough, insisting that, “we have to live by those principles and values.” This, he said, is courage, and physicians should work to cultivate courage among their colleagues and residents and fellows. Murthy about the role of professionalism in medicine and what qualities the graduate medical community should foment in young physicians.ĭr. Murthy is available on our Vimeo channel. “That’s what inspired me to go into medicine.”Ī recording of the full Marvin R. Murthy carried that vision of medicine as caring, not just curing, into his own career. “I was too young to understand the science, but what I did see was my parents building these extraordinary relationships with people,” he said. Murthy’s earliest memories of medicine were from the inside of his parents’ family medicine practice, where they infused clinical expertise with heartfelt care. Dunn Keynote Address at the 2019 Annual Educational Conference in Orlando, Florida.ĭr. Murthy, MD, MBA and ACGME President and Chief Executive Officer Thomas J. Cultivating courage, connecting on an emotional level at the workplace, and curing loneliness were all topics of discussion during a highly personal, inspirational, 90-minute fireside chat between 19 th Surgeon General of the United States Vivek H.

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