This week, we conclude our series of the three foundational ingredients that support physicians’ psychological health. We camped out on Autonomy for five weeks, then covered Relatedness last week. This week we focus on Competence.

(I hope no one is disappointed that I will NOT be taking on the demonstration of competencies to specialty boards, governmental stakeholders, hospital organizations, patients, and other external entities. That controversial topic is beyond the...

We are finally in the last chapter of autonomy as one of three key underpinnings of psychological fitness for physicians – autonomy, relatedness, and competence. This week, I will attempt to tackle – imperfectly so – the unique situation of autonomy for residents and fellows. After all, trainees are not different in what supports their psychological health than attendings.

Autonomy of task/technique (i.e., supervision): Most discussions about autonomy for trainees...

We continue to explore the foundational needs for psychological fitness – autonomy, connectedness, and competence. Autonomy has four important domains: time, tasks, techniques, and team. We covered time last week. This week, we will reflect on the tasks and techniques.

Tasks/Techniques. Depending on the setting practiced in (academic, hospital, rural full-spectrum, community outpatient, etc.), there are numerous tasks we each perform. I'm sure there are places where the...

We are in a series exploring the three foundational needs for physicians to optimize their psychological fitness – autonomy, connectedness, and competence. This week, we will reflect on time, the first of four domains within autonomy for physicians - Time, Tasks, Team, and Techniques. I'll also highlight a fifth "T" – Thoughts/Mindset within each facet as we unpack them.

Time. There is great variety in the amount of autonomy given to physicians. Many residents and employed...