A tool exists that has been helping more and more physicians cope with the manifold stresses of contemporary medicine: peer coaching.
Peer coaching is a process in which a trained professional helps their client become the best they can be. By asking powerful questions and guiding clients toward their own answers, the peer coach brings out their innate resourcefulness and problem-solving capacity.
It’s not therapy as coaches aren’t aiming at healing pain, trauma, dysfunction or conflict. It’s also not mentoring or consulting as it’s not focused on passing specific information or vocational guidance to the client.
What peer coaching is doing in many healthcare organizations today is helping practitioners manage the many stresses of the job, communicate better with colleagues (and loved ones) and learn the difference between the things they can control and the things they can’t.
It’s an aid to greater success that doesn’t come with the unfortunate stigma that clings to the idea of physicians seeing a therapist. It doesn’t affect their licensure. Importantly, it can bring about measurable change even after a handful of sessions.
If you’re curious about the process and its results, we invite you to read Ever Wonder Why Peer Coaching Works? an article by Derek B. Johnson MD, FACS, CPEC and VITAL WorkLife Peer Coach who is a physician himself. “Physicians appreciate being coached by physicians,” Dr. Johnson writes. “Clients don’t need to spend time explaining to me or to another peer coach what our working conditions, special pressures and typical needs are—we know.” It’s a succinct but detailed exploration and explanation of how peer coaching can help physicians—and the organizations that employ them—thrive.
Read Dr. Johnson's article here.
