Managing your stress is as important as managing your physical health. Taking care of yourself and encouraging others to practice self-care will sustain and extend your ability to care for patients in need.
To help you successfully navigate your wellness practice, SCCMA has been addressing how physicians can best care for themselves while they care for others. We hope you find these free resources helpful in supporting you along your wellness journey.
CMAs Physicians’ and Dentists’ Confidential Hotline - (213) 383-2691
About the hotline: We are a confidential service dedicated to assisting physicians and dentists who may feel overwhelmed by aspects of their personal or professional lives. Our goal is to help our colleagues before their lives and practices are in jeopardy.
How it works: All calls are completely confidential. Callers are quickly connected to a physician or dentist with extensive experience in helping health professionals having problems with stress, substance abuse or mental health issues. Callers receive the support and referrals needed to better manage whatever issues with which they may be struggling.
Who should call: If you’re a physician or dentist looking for help with substance abuse or a psychological or emotional problem, we’re here to help. If you’re a colleague, family member or friend of a physician or dentist in need of assistance, please don’t hesitate to call.
Psychiatrists helping our US physician and medical student colleagues navigate the many intersections of our personal and professional lives.
- Free, Confidential & Anonymous
- No appointment necessary
- Call for any issue, not just a crisis
- We report to no one
- Open Monday to Friday (except federal holidays) 8:00 AM - 12:00 AM ET
Our mission at Physician Support Line is to offer free and confidential peer support to American physicians and medical students by creating a safe space to discuss immediate life stressors with volunteer psychiatrist colleagues who are uniquely trained in mental wellness and also have similar shared experiences of the profession. We hope ultimately to build a sustainable community of peer support and wellness for physicians and medical students across the United States.
Our Goals
To provide a resource for physician and medical student emotional wellness to healthcare organizations and institutions.
THERAPY AID COALITION ONE-ON-ONE COUNSELING 
In mid-March, 2020, Therapy Aid Coalition launched its first initiative, Coronavirus Online Therapy. We held the intention of connecting essential workers with free and low-cost online therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, we have thousands of participating therapists within all 50 US States, and have served victims of national disasters and crises within the US. We presently offer services to US healthcare professionals and first responders.
PHYSICIAN COACH SUPPORT 
Get confidential one-on-one peer support. For Physicians, by Physician Certified Life Coach Volunteers.
We all have places in our life where we feel blocked, stuck, overwhelmed, angry or hopeless. Physicians typically do not ask for support or even know where to find support. A physician life coach can help other physicians identify these areas and subsequently how to address them. Your friends, spouse or trusted co-workers can be huge help when you need to talk and discuss when you feel frustrated, upset, guilty, afraid or anxious. However, as peer physicians we understand the challenges you are going through. We have unique skill set as Life Coaches that can help give a different perspective than a friend, spouse, mentor or therapist.
As physician life coaches, we aim to use our skills to support other physicians. We endeavor to help physicians understand how their current thoughts are creating their feelings, leading to their actions and producing their results. We believe in providing compassionate peer support using our coaching skills, free of charge, for any physician who may be struggling with a situation or a thought they need support with. Our mission is to increase awareness to help physicians live a more conscious life.
https://physiciancoachsupport.com/
Finding Solutions and Boosting Resilience
Join the SCCMA and the Physician Wellness Committee for a monthly solution-oriented wellness series, Resilient MD.
Each one-hour session begins with a grounding, wellness exercise so participants may be fully present and experience a moment of self-care. This is followed by a brief thematic presentation and engaging discussion aimed at envisioning a future where issues that negatively impact the practice of medicine and physician resilience can be successfully addressed. The session will close with a wellness bite - an action-oriented takeaway you can use personally, with colleagues, and within your practice setting to find joy and meaning in medicine.
Registration is free and participants receive a $15 DoorDash gift card for each session attended, thanks to the generous support of ProAssurance. Sessions, excluding participant discussions, will be recorded.
In addition, the SCCMA continues to host live seminars and webinars concerning issues and topics surrounding physician wellness, COVID19 stress, and practice management stress. To view a full list of upcoming events, click here.
Join the SCCMA and the Physician Wellness Committee for a quarterly solution-oriented wellness series, Wellness Matters (previously Resilient MD).
Attend to Mind, Body and Spirit
Nourish yourself with breath and movement by participating in free online mindful yoga for healers with Dr. Jessie Mahoney. Sessions are held most Saturdays at 9:00am PT.
Participants will replenish, heal, and grow while practicing presence, self-compassion, and acceptance. During this virtual yoga session, discover the power of the pause, the meaning of presence, and the peace, joy, connection, and beauty that emerge when you learn to live with mindful intention.
Sign up to receive the Zoom link and weekly email with any schedule changes.
Making Healthcare Professionals Happier and Healthier
Headspace is the most science-backed meditation app in the world. Just sitting and meditating with us has been shown to increase happiness and reduce stress and burnout. SCCMA Physicians enjoy a one-year free subscription. When signing up, you will simply need to provide your CMA Membership ID.
What is meditation? Meditation isn’t about becoming a different person, a new person, or even a better person. It’s about training in awareness and getting a healthy sense of perspective. You’re not trying to turn off your thoughts or feelings. You’re learning to observe them without judgment. And eventually, you may start to better understand them as well.
https://www.headspace.com/
SCCMA has curated the following list of articles, websites, studies, videos and podcasts discussing physician burnout, techniques for combatting burnout, stress-reduction tactics, and general wellness information.
WEBSITES
ARTICLES AND BOOKS
VIDEOS AND PODCASTS
PRESENTATIONS AND SLIDES
- Nutrition and Wellness by Allison Collins, MD, Director of Lifestyle/Culinary Medicine at Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara