The ASCO Post | MARCH 10, 2015
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Palliative Care in Oncology Arif Kamal, MD, FACP continued from page 83
physically exhausting. To determine which area of medicine had the highest burnout rate, my colleagues and I approached the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine to conduct a survey that served two purposes. One was to understand the predictors of burnout among palliative care physicians; and the second was to understand the demographics of palliative care physicians, such as their age, and how much and where they work. In the survey, we asked about their work/life balance, burnout and career satisfaction, and how long they plan on remaining in the field. We were also interested in learning which characteristics of clinicians
and their work can be changed and which ones cannot. What we found is that 62% of all physicians reported high burnout. Younger age, working in smaller organizations, having fewer colleagues near by, as well as working longer hours and on weekends were all predictors of physician burnout. How will the high rates of burnout among palliative care physicians affect patient care? High burnout among physicians is not a new story. The new story is that if we do not reverse this trend of high burnout, we will not be able to deliver responsive, high-quality palliative care because clinicians are walking away from the discipline. In our survey, 25% of palliative
care physicians said they would leave the field in 5 years, and 50% said they would leave the field in 10 years.
Efforts to Reduce Burnout Are there steps being taken to mitigate the issues causing burnout among palliative care physicians? There are proposals being written into grants to develop interventions to prevent burnout in palliative care physicians. There are also practices already in place to reduce burnout that other disciplines are using, such as mindfulness meditation, but it is unclear whether they will be effective in offsetting burnout in palliative medicine physicians, because a one-sizefits-all approach might not work. Here at Duke University Medical Center, faculty are invited to a closed-
door session each quarter to openly share the issues they face taking care of patients and the emotional reactions, which has been helpful. Other cancer centers have similar in-house programs as well. What is also helpful is just recognizing that what we do is difficult and that it is hard to separate our own experiences and emotions from the routine delivery of care. n
Disclosure: Dr. Kamal reported no potential conflicts of interest.
Reference 1. Kamal A, Bull J, Wolf S, et al: Prevalence and predictors of burnout among specialty palliative care clinicians in the United States: Results of a national survey. 2014 Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium. Abstract 87. Presented October 25, 2014.
Announcements
Kay Research and Care Center Opens at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
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t. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis has officially opened the Kay Research and Care Center. The new $198 million center houses the Eric Trump Foundation Surgery and ICU Center, and the Marlo Thomas Center for Global Education and Collaboration. The St. Jude Red Frog Events Proton Therapy Center, also within the Center, will open this fall. “This is a momentous occasion for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, as we open the new Kay Research and Care Center and celebrate the integration of treatment, research, technology, collaboration, and education on the St. Jude campus,” said Richard Shadyac, Jr, President and CEO of ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. (ALSAC refers to the American Lebanese Syrian
Associated Charities, the fund-raising arm of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.) The center is named for Kay Jewelers, a longtime supporter of St. Jude, which recently made a commitment to raise $50 million over 10 years in support of the hospital’s lifesaving work. Kay Jewelers has supported St. Jude since 1999, raising more than $40 million to support the children and families of St. Jude. “Our partnership with St. Jude is a source of great pride, and we are honored to support this incredible institution with the amazing work it does,” said Ed Hrabak, Kay Jewelers President. The building’s state-of-the-art Eric Trump Foundation Surgery and ICU Center was made possible by a gener-
Fig. 1: Officials from ALSAC and St. Jude join supporters in celebration of the opening of the Kay Research and Care Center. From left, the group includes Terry Burman of the St. Jude Board, Ryan Kunkel of Red Frog Events, U.S. Congressman Steve Cohen, St. Jude President and CEO James Downing, MD, Tryna Kochanek of Kay Jewelers, Rich Unes of the St. Jude Board, David Bouffard of Kay Jewelers, Eric and Lara Trump of The Eric Trump Foundation and Richard Shadyac, President and CEO of ALSAC/St. Jude.
The Kay Research and Care Center… will be integral to our future as a global innovator in the fight against childhood cancer and other deadly diseases. —James R. Downing, MD
ous $20 million commitment from The Eric Trump Foundation. The center doubles the hospital’s surgery space, accommodating the latest technologies with the flexibility to adapt to future advances. The operating suites are equipped with recording devices and observation rooms, to help doctors around the world learn from techniques perfected at St. Jude. “I’m immensely proud of our incredible pledge to the children of St. Jude. We look forward to supporting St. Jude for many years to come,” said Eric Trump, Eric Trump Foundation Founder. The Marlo Thomas Center for Global Education and Collaboration occupies the entire main floor of the Kay Research and Care Center. The center is designed to be a hub of learning and discovery, using technology to connect doctors and scientists around the world. An entire floor of the Kay Research and Care Center is devoted to the com-
putational biology department, which will play a key role in the hospital’s research over the coming decades. The growth of the department is crucial for the hospital’s work to analyze the immense amount of data provided by the St. Jude-Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project, as well as other St. Jude research efforts to help unlock the secrets of childhood cancer. The St. Jude Red Frog Events Proton Therapy Center, which was created thanks to a $25 million commitment from Red Frog Events, is the world’s first proton therapy center dedicated solely to the treatment of children. “St. Jude is a remarkable place of discovery and interaction, and a place of compassion and healing,” said James R. Downing, MD, St. Jude President and Chief Executive Officer. “The Kay Research and Care Center captures all of these elements under one roof, and will be integral to our future as a global innovator in the fight against childhood cancer and other deadly diseases.” n