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About the WellMD & WellPhD Center
A Message From the Chief Wellness Officer
While the state of physician well-being in our country is still alarming, there’s a mindset shift taking place around the country. Rather than leaving well-being up to the individual alone, leaders at healthcare and governmental organizations are increasingly recognizing the institution’s essential role in mitigating this national epidemic.
Stanford Medicine continues to play a central role in this vital movement. Stanford Medicine is the only organization to have achieved the highest designation in every awarding year of the American Medical Association's "Joy in Medicine" program, recognizing our leadership in fostering physician and scientist well-being through effective systems and processes that drive meaningful organizational progress.
The WellMD & WellPhD Center is also sharing the knowledge and data that we’ve developed while we also learn from others. For example, I have the honor of serving as one of six MDs on the National Academy of Medicine (NAM)'s Committee on Systems Approaches to Improve Patient Care by Supporting Clinician Well-Being as we developed NAM's National Plan for Health Workforce Well-Being, and I remain a senior advisor. In addition, we offer the Stanford Medicine Chief Wellness Officer Course, an annual one-week workshop that aims to equip CWOs or equivalent executives to strategically advance physician well-being in their organizations. And in partnership with the AMA and the Mayo Clinic, the WellMD & WellPhD Center also co-founded and co-hosts the American Conference on Physician Health (ACPH), a three-day, biennial scientific conference.
As we work with collaborators around the nation to improve physician well-being, we expect to see a ripple effect in so many other areas — most notably, on patients, as most institutions are realizing that addressing physician well-being is inextricably linked to providing exceptional patient care. Ultimately, ensuring the well-being of physicians gives them the strength to focus on why they entered this vocation in the first place: to deliver the highest quality of care to people when they need it most.
Tait Shanafelt, MD
Jeanie & Stewart Ritchie Professor of Medicine
Chief Wellness Officer, Stanford Medicine
Director, WellMD & WellPhD Center
Associate Dean, Stanford School of Medicine
Our Dual Mission
WellMD
To advance the well-being of physicians and those they serve.
WellPhD
To advance the well-being of biomedical scientists and the beneficiaries of their contributions.
How We Advance Well-Being
The Challenge
Physicians and biomedical scientists are at increased risk for burnout and reduced professional fulfillment relative to workers in other fields. Physicians in particular suffer from starkly low levels of well-being. While there have been improvements in recent years, about 45 percent of physicians in a recent nationwide study reported at least one symptom of burnout, and only 42 percent reported satisfaction with their work-life integration.
Recent years have brought rising awareness of the importance of occupational well-being, and progress is being made as more healthcare leaders recognize that burnout can be traced to systemic issues within organizations and work environments, as well as within the professional culture as a whole. These areas are where we believe leaders should focus their energy. The premise that promoting professional fulfillment and mitigating burnout requires organization-wide change is foundational to the work of the WellMD & WellPhD Center.
We believe that creating an environment where physicians, scientists, and healthcare teams thrive is truly everyone’s job, and that there is a need to cultivate shared responsibility for advancing well-being at every organizational level. The Center seeks to catalyze and shape the organizational conversation, build coalitions, and influence clinical and operational leaders so that physician well-being and the correlating improvements to patient outcomes are considered vital dimensions of all organizational decisions.
Stanford Model of Occupational Well-Being
To frame our understanding of well-being, we developed the Stanford Model of Occupational Well-BeingTM, which depicts key drivers that contribute to burnout or promote professional fulfillment. This framework outlines the shared responsibility of organizations, departments, and teams, as well as individuals.
Stanford Professional Fulfillment Index (PFI)
To comprehensively assess physician well-being through measures of both burnout and professional fulfillment, we developed the PFI, which is recognized by the National Academy of Medicine as one of few validated and reliable survey instruments to measure well-being. The PFI is designed to be sensitive to changes that may occur due to various recent interventions or factors that impact professional fulfillment.
Innovations, Progress, and Advancing the Field
While awareness of the importance of well-being among healthcare professionals is on the rise, challenges remain, as occupational distress among physicians and scientists has reached the level of a public health crisis. That is why the Center aims not only to identify problems but also to develop effective interventions and collaborate with healthcare organizations worldwide to catalyze change.
Stanford Medicine serves as both a hub for iterative experimentation to develop and scale innovative interventions as well as an exemplar of what is possible in the field. We identify, develop, and implement system-level improvement initiatives at Stanford, as well as partner with our academic consortium, national organizations, and other medical centers to drive research and advance the field of physician and scientist well-being beyond Stanford to improve outcomes for healthcare professionals and the patients and communities they serve.
Joy in Medicine Health System Recognition
Stanford Medicine is the only organization to have achieved the highest designation in every biennial awarding year of the American Medical Association's Joy in Medicine® Health System Recognition Program, which recognizes healthcare organizations’ continued commitment to improving physician satisfaction and reducing burnout through programs and processes that are enhancing the physician work environment, improving operational efficiency, and supporting physician well-being.
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Evidence-Informed Interventions
Using robust science and assessment to pinpoint unique drivers of physician and scientist burnout, as well as those that promote professional fulfillment, the WellMD & WellPhD Center works to catalyze organizational change through interventions that target domains, including:
Mitigating the impact of work on personal relationships (IWPR) through a range of initiatives to address staffing and scheduling issues, such as cross coverage for out-of-office physicians, as well as weekend workshops to help participants strengthen the relationships that matter most
Building community and enhancing belonging through a portfolio of offerings such as Story Rounds, a series of live events featuring true spoken stories about life as a Stanford physician, and Commensality Groups, comprising six to eight physician colleagues who meet to share a meal once a month, which help connect our physicians to each other and to the meaning in their work
Reducing administrative burdens by introducing a more streamlined, efficient, and researcher-friendly grant proposal process; increasing the efficiency of EHR systems, in-basket work and clinical documentation; and implementing ambient AI scribe technology to assist clinicians across the organization
Reflections on Progress at Stanford
Stanford Medicine is committed to cultivating a work environment and culture that fosters meaning, purpose, and professional fulfillment for all members of our community and to inspiring other organizations to do the same through initiatives that can be implemented in real-world settings.
