Retina specialists are a busy breed. Throughout the year we provide care for patients, educate them and their caregivers, keep up with the latest research and trends in our profession, advise and teach fellows, conduct research, present lectures, travel, and stay current with continuing medical education requirements. We are busy and we have demanding work schedules, but that’s not all. Fortunately, for us retina experts, the conference circuit is pretty much dormant at this time of year. But for us as regular human folks living in the developed world, every other part of life kicks into high gear with general year-end preparations and, of course, the holidays.

Regardless of whether you celebrate Diwali, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, the new year, or nothing at all, we are all bombarded in these last few months of the calendar with commercial holidayism. Go grocery shopping, stop at a store, or run into the bank—you can’t escape it. Love it or hate it, there’s really no avoiding it, so don’t let it stress you out. As with many things in life, it behooves us all to roll with the punches. This also translates to work life.

Coupled with everyday life stresses, the high-paced world of medicine can easily lead to burnout. In fact, according to Mayo Clinic researchers, burnout affects more than half of US doctors.1 Another group of researchers found that a major cause of doctor burnout is the increasingly electronic nature of medicine.2 Not only are electronic health records and digital viewing systems now commonplace, but telemedicine is also gaining popularity, and it seems as though medicine will continue along the electronic pathway as a means of staying progressive. That said, if physician burnout is linked with the electronic nature of medicine, then we need to arm ourselves with strategies to beat this deleterious consequence of living and working in a fast-paced world. Whenever you can, take a little time for yourself and appreciate what you have in life. Meditate, take a walk outside, or simply discuss things with colleagues. Whatever it takes to strike a balance between work and life and to keep stress and burnout at bay.

No matter what happens in 2017 we wish all of you good health, a ton of wealth, and happiness beyond measure. n

Allen C. Ho, MD,
Chief Medical Editor

Robert L. Avery, MD,
Associate Medical Editor

1. Mayo Clinic. Physician burnout: Mayo researchers identify effective interventions [press release]. http://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/physician-burnout-mayo-researchers-identify-effective-interventions/. October 4, 2016. Accessed November 21, 2016.

2. Shanafelt TD, Dyrbye LN, Sinsky C, et al. Relationship between clerical burden and characteristics of the electronic environment with physician burnout and professional satisfaction. Mayo Clin Proc. 2016; 91(7):836-848.