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ACP Well-being Champions: Promoting Well-being Through Awareness, Advocacy, and Action

“Ultimately, the goal is to help physicians understand that they are not alone.”
—Cynthia (Daisy) Smith, MD, FACP, on ACP's Physician Well-being Resources

September 17 is National Physician Suicide Awareness Day. #NPSADay is a reminder and a call to action to make time to talk—and to act—so physicians' struggles don't become mental health emergencies. The American College of Physicians (ACP) is proud to take action to prevent physician suicide by sharing resources to help improve physician well-being, including suicide prevention resources, tips for starting important conversations about mental health, a crisis management plan, and more. Help us recognize #NPSADay by visiting NPSADay.org and learn how you can take action.

We must shift the current practice landscape to better support a culture of well-being and come together to take the necessary actions to reduce burnout, safeguard job satisfaction, remove barriers to seeking mental health services, and destigmatize seeking these services. As an official NPSA Day–supporting organization, ACP encourages physicians, colleagues, friends, and family to foster a culture that addresses burnout, supports fulfillment, and normalizes mental health treatment for physicians. ACP offers resources to address the root causes of physician burnout, including the Physician Well-being and Professional Fulfillment Initiative, the Advocacy Toolkit: Modernizing License and Credentialing Applications to Not Stigmatize Mental Health, and the I.M. Emotional Support Hub.

There are seven actions to help reduce physician burnout and ensure physicians' struggles don't become mental health emergencies.

  • Learn the vital signs
  • Encourage mental health reflection
  • Share suicide prevention resources
  • Prepare before a moment in crisis
  • Check in with a physician
  • Remove intrusive mental health questions
  • Create a culture of well-being

Speaking of difficult conversations, ACP continues to support its members by intensifying efforts to protect patients through advocacy to preserve science, evidence, and scholarly discussion. You can learn more at the ACP Legislative Action Center. ACP supports Equitable Access to Participation in the Electoral Process and continues to partner with Vot-ER to promote nonpartisan healthcare-based civic action.

Check out the links below for resources you can use for yourself and others:

  • Explore the Professional Fulfillment Zone, where you will find the latest updates from ACP's Professional Development and Fulfillment Team on the Well-being Champion (WBC) program, Physician Peer Coaching, and the annual ACP Internal Medicine Meeting.
  • Read about preventing burnout and physician suicide.
  • Learn about the value of community and communication in medicine.
  • Review Patients Before Paperwork and advocacy updates that affect physician well-being and professional fulfillment.
  • Explore WBC coaching resources, including coaching sign-ups, the WBC contact list, a library of well-being interventions, and the WBC journey map (must be signed in to ACP online).
  • Utilize just-in-time well-being skills for yourself and others; explore tools to create a well-being program tailored to any organization's needs and budget.
  • Visit the I.M. Emotional Support Hub and Video Series to learn more about individual and organizational strategies and resources to protect clinicians' emotional health and well-being.

We look forward to hearing from you! Reach out to us via e-mail anytime with your thoughts and suggestions for newsletter topics and features.

Sincerely,

Your ACP Well-being Team

Please log your Well-being Champion activities in your new and improved Well-being Champion Activities Tracker!

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