Well-Being and Resilience
ASH members are passionate about their work, but even the most brilliant minds need rest. That is why our mission to help hematologists conquer blood diseases worldwide goes beyond educational, funding, and networking opportunities. Clinicians, researchers, and other members of hematology care teams must prioritize their own health. Their well-being affects the strength of the industry as well as patient outcomes. At the same time, institutions are compelled to recognize employee burnout and must enact strategies to combat it.
Explore the following resources for clinicians, researchers, and trainees. ASH welcomes feedback from the hematology community on ways to support well-being, resilience, and sustainability.
Be kind to yourself, do not be afraid to ask for help, and ignore arbitrary expectations
In her essay for ASH Clinical News, Brea C. Lipe, MD, reflected on her experience as a woman and mother working in academic medicine.
Nurture your friendships (in person and virtually)
In-person gatherings are important for building relationships but using technology to stay in touch is also valuable. Aaron Gerds, MD, shared this advice in a column for ASH Clinical News. He described how a group text chain started in-person at the ASH annual meeting evolved into an ongoing safe space for peers to ask questions, vent frustrations, and feel less isolated.
Make time for down time
Whether you spend it alone or with others, down time away from work is necessary to avoid professional burnout. Take your PTO! Travelling, reading, recreation, journaling, and nurturing a hobby are all great ways to unwind. Physical exercise is excellent for stress management, keeping your energy up, and resetting your mind.
Volunteering can improve mental health
Giving back to your community can restore a sense of purpose. ASH has several opportunities for hematologists to volunteer their time and expertise. Take it from Veronica Flood, MD, who was a mentor for the ASH Careers in Hematology Advancement Mentorship Program (CHAMP). She said the experience helped her combat burnout and feel reenergized about her work.
Appoint a Chief Wellness Officer
Chief Wellness Officers (CWOs) can positively affect employee burnout in health care workplaces by monitoring work conditions and opportunities for professional fulfillment. A few CWOs shared their experience with ASH Clinical News. They urged equipping these roles with the right resources, meaningful metrics, and ability to implement systemic solutions.
Support employees suffering from moral injuries
It is normal for physicians, including hematologists, to experience “moral injury” in their work. Khushali Jhaveri, MD, defined this as “the feeling of knowing what a patient needs and feeling powerless to provide it.” Dr. Jhaveri told ASH Clinical News that investing in emotional infrastructure can help hematologists process grief and distress that come with the job. Another recommendation is to give hematologic care teams additional ethics training to be able to have challenging conversations with patients undergoing complex conditions. (Joyce Neumann, PhD, APRN, AOCN, HEC-C, described her team’s approach to this in ASH Clinical News.)
Inform employees about financial education and debt management tools
Medical school debt is a substantial driver of stress and burnout for hematologists long after they complete their degree programs. Federal loan forgiveness is increasingly precarious. It behooves institutions to mentor trainees early so that they can best navigate the financial realities of pursuing a health care or research career. Institutions also can harness their collective influence to advocate policymakers for medical student loan relief reforms.
Promote virtual visits to ease provider burnout
An analysis of nearly 86,000 hematology appointments at Mayo Clinic between 2023 and 2025 found that digital appointments via video or telephone had relatively low cancellation rates. Providers surveyed about their communication methods also tended to prefer virtual visits for meeting with established patients not currently receiving therapy. The study’s authors said standardizing digital communication workflows, including patient portal messaging, is a “low-risk, high-yield” intervention to save providers time and optimize their ability to deliver care.
Explore ways to make patient intake more efficient
Establishing intake decision trees or a triage process, as well as putting a navigator in place to increase efficiency around diagnostics and data collection, are some ways to help. Digital platforms exist that can increase the number of referrals by a team in a set amount of time. Meanwhile, electronic medical records can minimize clinical practice variation. Classical hematologists at the Mayo Clinic explained how their integration of these practices led to greater satisfaction among patients, providers, and consultants while reducing the need for multiple follow-up visits.
Modernize peer review to meet industry demands
The traditional peer review process cannot keep up with the growth of scientific journal publishing, Naseema Gangat, MBBS, said in ASH Clinical News. She argued the increased pressure for getting high-impact papers published has led to burnout among researchers, editors, and reviewers alike. She recommends exploring new approaches—including portable peer reviews, formal training in the review process, and editorial fellowships such as those offered by Blood and Blood Advances—could help lighten the burden.
Better collaboration between physicians and advanced practice providers can prevent burnout among both.
In a 2022 survey of hematology-focused advanced practice providers (APPs) and physicians found the majority of the latter group said working with APPs reduced burnout. Respondents also strongly supported more APP-focused training in hematology, having “best practice” guidelines for APP-physician collaboration, and greater APP integration into national specialty-specific professional organizations. This includes APP-focused sessions at conferences.
Implement ways to set advanced practitioners up for success
Providing adequate education and mentoring for advanced practitioners (APs) in hematology is important for minimizing burnout in this group. So too is empowering APs to practice at the top of their licensure. This was the advice of Sandra Kurtin, PhD, ANP-C, AOCN, and Wendy Vogel, MSN, AOCNP. They also said the field needs more standardized benchmarks for measuring nonbillable tasks. These duties can take as much as a quarter of an AP’s workday but are valuable to patient care and practice operations.
Case study: A nationwide peer community model to fight physician burnout
What does combatting hematologist burnout looks like on a national scale? Consider this case from France: After a nationwide survey of 2,390 university hospital faculty members found that 40% experienced severe burnout and 14% disclosed having suicidal thoughts, department heads wanted to respond collectively to this concerning trend. In 2023, leaders from academic and community hospitals in France launched the national Community of hematology department heads with two main goals: “to support each department head in fulfilling their role more effectively,” and “to promote systemic transformation of hospital practices from the ground up, starting at the departmental level.” It led to a similar Community of department heads for French oncologists in 2024, and the original group has had three annual seminars with increased attendance each year.
ASH Well-Being and Resilience Working Group
The Well-Being and Resilience Working Group is comprised of members of the Committee on Practice, the Committee on Training, the Committee on Education, Trainee Council, and additional ASH members with an interest in physician wellness. The working group recommends and explores actions that ASH can take related to well-being and resilience.
If you are interested in being a member, please contact ASH Policy and Practice Manager, Myra Masood at [email protected].
Building Resilience at ASH Annual Meetings
ASH annual meetings are known for their unparalleled hematology programming and networking activities, but they also make space for wellness. Attendees have access to:
- The ASH Foundation Run/Walk 3K and 5K
- Micro-learning sessions at the ASH Wellness Studio
- Affinity group meetups
- Quiet rooms
- Nursing lounges
- Complimentary onsite child care
- Yoga sessions
- Games
ASH staff can also provide accessibility accommodation, as part of our goal to offer a safe and inclusive environment for all.
ASH Clinicians in Practice
The ASH Clinicians in Practice (ACIP) was developed to amplify the voices of practitioners within the Society. The ACIP is comprised of practicing hematologists across the U.S. with interests in hematology care issues, quality of care, new health care delivery systems, and practice management issues. Members include representatives from various practice settings, such as community-based private practices, practices owned by large, non-hospital entities, hospital-based practices at non-academic medical centers, and practices owned by academic medical centers.
SUBMIT A NOMINATION FORM
National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-Being and Resilience
In 2017 NAM launched the Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-Being and Resilience, a network of organizations—including ASH—committed to reversing trends in clinician burnout. The Action Collaborative’s three goals include:
- Improving baseline understanding of challenges to clinician well-being.
- Raising the visibility of clinician stress and burnout.
- Elevating evidence-based, multidisciplinary solutions that will improve patient care by caring for the caregiver.
Visit the Action Collaborative Website
Resource for APPs: Team-Based Care Toolkit
Developed by the American College of Physicians (ACP), the Team-Based Care Toolkit is designed to enhance collaboration between internal medicine physicians and advanced practice providers. The resources contained in this toolkit can help achieve a positive and efficient working environment, increase productivity, and improve patient outcomes.
Association of American Medical Colleges
In 2021 the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) released a report, “The Rise of Wellness Initiatives in Health Care: Using National Survey Data to Support Effective Well-Being Champions and Wellness Programs.” The report is a product of the AAMC’s Council on Faculty and Academic Societies Faculty Resilience Committee and presented findings from two surveys that examined common characteristics of wellness programs and the roles and responsibilities of the health care professionals who lead wellness efforts. The report also presented 10 recommendations for how medical schools and teaching hospitals can promote a culture of well-being and develop and support wellness leaders and initiatives.
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