Retina is a very exciting specialty to be a part of right now. We have had a slew of new approvals, and a few therapies may soon provide a treatment option for an entire population who have long been told, “there’s not much we can do for you.” Our conference halls are bubbling with excited conversations and heated—but healthy—debates on the newest imaging tools, surgical techniques, and treatment approaches.

And yet, amid all this excitement, not all retina specialists are celebrating. Some are exhausted, struggling to engage with their patients and practice, and are seeing a dip in their clinical efficacy, even before adding eager geographic atrophy patients to the injection clinic. Anyone who is familiar with this feeling isn’t alone—a recent survey found that nearly 40% of ophthalmologists said they were dealing with physician burnout syndrome, and 30% of them identified as retina specialists.1

That’s because burnout is on the rise everywhere, labeled as an “international crisis” by Forbes after a global survey of 20,000 people found that nearly 50% of employees (and 53% of managers) said they were burned out at work.2 That means there’s a 50/50 chance your technicians and office staff are also feeling rundown, overworked, and, well, burned out.

While the ripple effect of the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated burnout, it also created a stronger focus on wellness. More of us are talking about work/life balance, exercise (anyone else join the Peloton craze?), ergonomics, yoga, and healthy eating habits. The AAO’s annual meeting now includes a robust physician wellness program, and you can check out the speakers’ pearls in this issue’s featured article, Physician Burnout in Ophthalmology, which shares the stats and risk factors for physician burnout syndrome.

The other articles in this issue are designed to keep your practice healthy, including ways to improve your injection documentation, a year-end portfolio checklist for tax season, and a guide to help practice managers stay focused.

We are great at caring for our patients—let’s not forget to share a little of that love with ourselves and our practices.

1. Sedhom JA, Patnaik JL, McCourt EA, et al. Physician burnout in ophthalmology: US survey. J Cataract Refractive Surg. 2022;48(6):723-729.

2. Segal E. New surveys show burnout is an international crisis. Forbes. October 15, 2022. Accessed November 9, 2022. www.forbes.com/sites/edwardsegal/2022/10/15/surveys-show-burnout-is-an-international-crisis