Pressure and disenchantment in physicians—Part I: Developing an approach to reconnect with what is noble about medicine

Physicians are faced with many stressors today that place them at risk of disenchantment, depression, and burnout. Although this is costly to the individual physician, it is equally costly to society, because physician stress can lead to exercise of poor judgment and medical errors. It also threatens to exacerbate physician shortages, as more physicians opt to retire or, in some cases, change careers altogether. In this essay, suggestions are made as to how to deal with these stressors that, if used, can ameliorate them at least to some degree. In a companion essay, a Chinese spiritual text, the Tao Te Ching, will be explored in depth as yet another tool that physicians can use as a guide for living with less stress.