Under Stress: Radiologists Embrace Novel Ways to Tackle Burnout When Dr

ECR TODAY 2017 EUROPEAN CONGRESS OF RADIOLOGY DAILY NEWS FROM EUROPE’S LEADING IMAGING MEETING | SATURDAY, MARCH 4, 2017 3 9 17 25 HIGHLIGHTS CLINICAL CORNER TECHNOLOGY & RESEARCH COMMUNITY NEWS Refocusing radiologists’ Pitfalls in PET/CT and FDG ECR 2017 exhibitors demonstrate Editor looks back on practice around indications in focus how to realise full potential seven years of patient’s needs of healthcare IT Insights into Imaging BY VIVIENNE RAPER Under stress: radiologists embrace novel ways to tackle burnout When Dr. Markus Berger set off to work on a Monday morning, he had no idea that his drive would eventually lead him to Buddhist teachings and to become a more thoughtful and complete radiologist. He plans to describe his experiences during today’s session on burnout. “I was driving out of the garage After some thought, he realised he’d reorganisation and 12-hour work towards the motorway when sud- felt stressed and overworked for days. According to Hunink, increa- denly I felt I couldn’t control the car a couple of years and had found it sing workloads are among the fac- anymore,” he told ECR Today in a difficult to sleep through the night. tors leading to a rise in burnout. pre-congress interview. “I was swea- Insomnia is among the first sym- Radiologists are tackling more ting, I couldn’t carry on. I drove back ptoms of burnout, according to Prof. cases, interpreting more images, about a kilometre and put the car Myriam Hunink, professor of radio- and under increased pressure not back in the garage, but – being a faith- logy and clinical epidemiology at the to make mistakes. ful employee – took the train to the Erasmus University Medical Cen- “Previously everything was done hospital. I arrived an hour or two late.” tre in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. by interacting with the patient Berger, who is chief of radiology at Other physical symptoms include and referring physician, and there the Swiss Paraplegic Centre in Nott- headache, stiff neck, lower back was time to talk. Now there’s a wil, Switzerland, talked to his super- pain, and gastrointestinal upsets. long worklist to take care of, which visor and team. They agreed he could Hunink came up with the idea for seems to grow each day and – if you work half time for three to six weeks today’s session after realising – from don’t do it – all hell breaks loose,” while he identified the problem. colleagues and the media – that she said. “The first thing I did was to scan burnout was becoming more pre- Moreover, there’s an expectation myself to look for anything organic. valent. She estimates that 50% of that everything is done digitally, Of course, everything was normal. radiologists have at least one sym- which means radiologists can feel I went to see an ophthalmologist, a ptom of burnout, of which the most they spend most of their day looking general internist … They prescribed important for diagnosis are emoti- at pixels and clicking on their mouse. me therapies, medications. They onal, such as feeling overwhelmed, This potential problem is worse in even prescribed me a pacemaker, detached, or disillusioned. radiology than other clinical speci- which is hard for a radiologist who “It’s important on two levels: at alties where there is naturally more works with MRI machines,” he the level of the individual, and at patient-clinician interaction. said. “But the only thing I got was the level of the department. It has a new glasses.” huge effect on people and the qua- Berger turned to the internet lity of care they can give,” she noted. where he read about people having Berger attributes his burnout to Prof. Myriam Hunink meditates in her aikido clothes in the dojo. panic attacks while driving a car. – among other things – a hospital continued on page 2 myESR.org #ECR2017 2 HIGHLIGHTS ECR TODAY | SATURDAY, MARCH 4, 2017 “There were mats on the floor and to destress by increasing aware- He gives the example of the funny candles. I’m a radiologist, a techno- ness and focusing on the present internet video of a group of people logy person, and felt totally in the moment. with blue and red balls, where vie- wrong place. Then we started these Since his experience of burnout, wers are asked to count the number exercises, and the first I did, I felt an Berger has taken a sabbatical for a of throws. Only after viewing the immense pressure in my head. I was summer course in mindfulness, read video again do they notice the huge intrigued. I started to do daily exer- Buddhist teachings on the mind- gorilla walking among the crowd. cises and, after two weeks, I started body connection, and attended a Mindfulness has helped him to sleep through again.” Zen meditation week. Although not focus on what the images show There are many practical things a Buddhist, he believes mindfulness, rather than his preconceptions, so radiologists can do to avoid bur- along with Buddha’s ideas, have he misses less. Meanwhile, his expe- nout, says Beate Trück, managing made him a better radiologist. rience of burnout has made him partner of the Brussels Mind- One Buddhist teaching is that the a more caring physician. He’s less fulness Institute. These include mind clings to certain ideas, he said. fixated on the power of high-tech taking a walk in the park at As a radiologist, this means seeing medicine and sees patients as peo- lunchtime, leaving your mobile the first finding, entering autopilot ple, not just cases, he added. phone in the office, and using all and ignoring other pertinent featu- your senses to appreciate your sur- res of the image. roundings. “It’s important to pause. Our Professional Challenges Session Mindfulness training at the Brussels Mindfulness Institute. Provided mind is a tricky thing – it can tell by Beate Trück. you that you can’t take a break Saturday, March 4, 08:30–10:00, Room K and, when you’re stressed, you’ve PC 13b Burnout of radiologists continued from page 1 He met an old friend who had quit a tendency to believe it,” she said. his job as the chief executive of a large At today’s session, Trück intends » Chairman’s introduction Berger took out his bicycle around Dutch multinational company when to do a simple group meditation M.G.M. Hunink; Rotterdam/NL three weeks after he cut his wor- in his fifties to buy a farm. The friend exercise as part of her talk. She » A personal story king hours, and found he could tra- recommended mindfulness-based will also explain basic principles of M.F. Berger; Nottwil/CH vel again. After six weeks, he went stress reduction, which is an eight- mindfulness, such as how to step » Mindfulness-based interventions for burnout of physicians on vacation with his family and week structured course of guided out of autopilot. This is where your A. Speckens; Nijmegen/NL then returned to work. However, meditations, simple yoga exercises, mind wanders onto work while » Interventions to prevent and treat burnout although he could resume his duties, and body awareness training. you’re doing other activities, such B. Trück; Brussels/BE he had to wait another two months “I went there for the first time as showering or driving. Mindful- to tackle his underlying burnout. on a Tuesday evening,” Berger said. ness training encourages people » Panel discussion and discussion with the audience BY MÉLISANDE ROUGER Distinguished breast radiologist to present honorary lecture today In recognition of her contribution to cancer imaging and passionate work in education and research, Professor Fiona J. Gilbert from Cambridge, UK, has been invited to deliver the Arthur de Schepper Honorary Lecture ‘From features to function: breakthroughs in breast imaging’ at ECR 2017. Radiology first piqued her inte- “I am very involved in research. volumes of images and free us to do in order to maximise the fantastic rest while doing a residency in My particular interests here are in more interventional procedures, and opportunities that imaging provides oncology in Glasgow. “CT scanning assessing new imaging technology more multidisciplinary team mee- cost-effective patient care,” she said. had just been introduced and I and finding out whether it is impro- tings to allow us to influence patient Prof. Gilbert has tackled all these found it much easier to manage ving diagnostic confidence, impro- management,” she said. issues in various talks around the patients with cancer when I could ving decision making, and whether She also foresees an increase in world. She is a regular speaker at see the amount of disease that was or not it impacts on patient care using imaging for screening pati- international radiology conferences there. I then undertook my training and is cost effective. I love taking ents and patient stratification including the European Congress in medicine and went into radio- a multimodal approach to better for more optimal treatment and of Radiology, the annual meeting logy as it allowed me to keep my understand tumour physiology and earlier diagnosis. “But I hope this of the European Society of Breast interests in general medicine and am thrilled as we have just acquired will be guided by a more thought- Imaging and the Radiological Soci- surgery. I love being able to influ- a PET/MR machine to do just that,” ful approach, using all available ety of North America meeting. ence management of our patients she said. technology such as blood tests She has regularly attended the through imaging and I find the Prof. Gilbert has authored more and genetic analysis.

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