It is by definition the duty of a physician to be there to look after one's patients, often to the detriment of one's own personal health and well-being. Everyone including the physician themselves unquestioningly subscribes to this unspoken rule.

It's no wonder that physicians are faced with ever increasing rates of burnout and the medical profession is falling behind in its subscribed role as the care taker of others.

Doesn't it seem a bit odd that when physicians subscribe to such an unsustainable rule they make themselves and ultimately their profession unsustainable? In other words they are actually putting their patients at risk!

So what is to be done with this conundrum?

Well the answer may lie in answering the question: "What is the true meaning of helping someone maintain their health?