Personal Wins in Family Medicine – The Invisible Impact

By: Duaa Sabbahi, MD, PGY-2, University of Toledo Family Medicine Residency Program; and Kate Szymanski, DO, University of Toledo Medical Center

There are many factors that guide physicians to pursue medicine as a career. These factors play a crucial role in withstanding the challenges we face in maintaining our mental and physical well-being. Family physicians are a keystone in the community for maintaining health promotion and secondary prevention. Establishing rapport with patients and providing them with the basic medical knowledge to make better lifestyle choices,¹ as well as being a role model for them, is of immense importance. While personal wins can sometimes be unnoticeable and faint, these interactions can often yield more tangible wins.

Starting my second year of residency with a full clinic schedule was a huge challenge. While aiming for efficiency, performing in other aspects of healthcare gets cumbersome, especially in acute sick visits. However, patient interactions taught me how rapport could impact the quality of care, with consequences on patient outcomes. This was reflected in a recent acute visit while managing a patient with recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs). During this visit, I counseled the patient and her relative on key factors of UTI management and discontinued some medications, including Farxiga. Because of the rapport that I established, my patient shared more personal symptoms that she was uncomfortable sharing with her urologist. Realizing the power of connection that family medicine can provide for patients and its importance in healthcare leads to personal wins for physicians and patients.²

Family physicians are in multiple settings, including the inpatient setting.^3,4 Personal and professional success extends to the hospital. A 50-year-old male with a hypertensive emergency and new severe heart failure with an ejection fraction of 10-15% was admitted to our family medicine service. We discussed lifestyle modifications to improve his well-being and our attending physician used her personal and professional experience to help the patient identify and plan work-life balance changes. The team discussed dietary changes, such as meal planning/prepping, to incorporate more vegetables while decreasing the use of high salt and “fast” food.¹ We also discussed minor lifestyle changes, such as parking the car further away from the door and increasing physical activity, to improve cardiac outcomes. The patient has followed up with his personal family physician, sharing his improvement and own personal wins.⁴

I have found lifestyle medicine lectures to be applicable to my practice and to be supportive to my well-being.¹ Daily morning workouts have positively impacted my spiritual and mental state, which is a great win for me on a personal and professional level. When facing difficult exercise counseling sessions, most patients noted time constraints as a barrier to exercise/physical health. However, I can be a role model for my patients to exercise regularly and eat well in spite of a busy schedule. Family physicians can earn small personal wins with their patients every day; however, patient satisfaction and acknowledgment are key factors that sustain and empower physicians throughout the career cycle.^4,5

1. Lifestyle & Income in Family Medicine. AAFP. November 15, 2019. Accessed July 1, 2024. https://www.aafp.org/students-residents/medical-students/explore-career-in-family-medicine/income-work-life-balance.html.
2. The Specialty of Family Medicine. AAFP. March 12, 2024. Accessed July 5, 2024. https://www.aafp.org/about/dive-into-family-medicine/family-medicine-speciality.html.
3. Hellenberg D, Williams FR, Kubendra M, Kaimal RS. Strengths and Limitations of a Family Physician. J Family Med Prim Care. 2018 Mar-Apr;7(2):284-287. doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_297_17. PMID: 30090765; PMCID: PMC6060944. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6060944/.
4. Career Options in Family Medicine. AAFP. https://www.aafp.org/students-residents/medical-students/explore-career-in-family-medicine/career-practice-options.html.
5. Lee, K., Wright, S.M. & Wolfe, L. The Clinically Excellent Primary Care Physician: Examples from the Published Literature. BMC Fam Pract 17, 169 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12875-016-0569-x.