Download the Infographic: What To Expect from Peer Coaching

Exploring Areas of Relief

No one responsible for a healthcare organization wants the clinicians on staff to be miserable, overly stressed, resentful, disengaged, on the verge of burnout or preparing to resign. Care may suffer, patient satisfaction scores may decline, team dynamics may go south—and the organization may be faced with the daunting costs of hiring and on-boarding someone new. But the pressures of contemporary medicine are great, and these negative scenarios unfortunately play out across the industry every day.

What can be done? There are general strategies like building a culture of well being in the organization, for example, including open lines of communication so clinicians can have a stronger connection with leadership and influence over medical decisions.

But for certain instances, taking a direct approach might be absolutely necessary and bears fruit in unexpected areas. This is where peer coaching from external resources comes into play and offers a wide range of benefits, both in introspective and tangible form. 

The Benefits of Peer Coaching

Our recent research shows physicians using peer coaching had improved well being scores that were 58% higher after coaching.

When participants were asked which benefits of peer coaching they found most valuable, the top three were:

• Improved self-awareness – improved relationships inside and outside of practice, greater happiness and improved professional effectiveness.
• Improved confidence – challenging self-beliefs that may be inaccurate and destructive, and that can lead to feelings of reduced professional ability/impact.
• Improved validation – talking through emotions that accompany difficult and traumatic situations and curbing emotional exhaustion.

Working with a Peer Coach

Many clinicians, when they hear the word “coach,” think “counselor” or “therapist”—and bridle at the idea of utilizing this resource. Is this an admission of a failure to their mental state? Are their families and childhoods going to be examined to see what’s “wrong” with them?

Coaching is a collaborative enterprise, in which coach and client work together as equals in an external, action-oriented mode. Counseling or therapy is more reflective and internal, with the therapist seen as the guiding expert. While counseling often focuses solely on intimate personal issues, coaching can address the client’s professional goals and steps to be taken to achieve them. 

Peer coaching pairs physicians with certified coaches who are also physicians—they know first-hand the struggles of contemporary medicine. Working as professional partners rather than therapists, peer coaches support physicians with empathic listening, guidance and support to reframe and address frustrating or troubling issues.