Why physicians have a duty to nurture their own capacity for caring

Regardless of our role in the health and medical care ecosystem, the business and clinical challenges associated with promoting health, preventing disease, making timely diagnoses and achieving quality clinical care outcomes are increasingly demanding. The persistent pressures of time, combined with the often-cumbersome process of reimbursement, difficulties in facilitating access to necessary care and the challenges associated with integrating new technologies efficiently into the workflow, can often be overwhelming.

Factor in the anxieties, frustrations, worries and expectations of the people we serve — further complicated by the plethora of potentially harmful misinformation bombarding them — and the frequent reports of burnout among our colleagues are understandable. The grind of the pressures we as physicians and other clinicians face exacts a heavy toll on our mental and physical health. The entire health ecosystem itself is stressed. As a result, unfortunately, we can easily lose touch with what originally motivated us to concern ourselves with whether the people who share our time and space shall live and not prematurely die, as well as with the quality of their survival.

I am fortunate to serve as a leader of a national effort that brings together the breadth of the entire health ecosystem to advance collaborations with people and their communities to promote the trusting relationships necessary for optimal health outcomes. For this work to succeed, physicians and the broader health care team must find ways to connect with and nurture the personal passions that led us to a life in service to health and wellness in the first place. As we were taught long ago by Dr. Francis Peabody: "One of the essential qualities of the clinician is an interest in humanity, for the secret of the care of the patient is in caring for the patient." In these troubling times, it is imperative that we maintain our inner capacity for caring.

Despite my busy schedule, I have found it essential to consistently carve out dedicated time for quiet contemplation and introspection. This practice connects me to the foundations of my calling — a time to explore who I really am deep inside. Like so many of you, the COVID-19 pandemic challenged my professional calling in many ways. However, an unexpected benefit was that I also was able to carve out time to develop my amateur interest in photography. Also, like millions of others, I felt the impulse to get outside, but to do so safely. Luckily, with my camera in hand, I found a glorious stretch of the Chattahoochee River near my home in Atlanta. With increasing regularity, I found myself standing in the still and quiet morning at first light, listening to the sounds of the awakening river. Eventually, I noticed that photographing the celestial painting of a sunrise, the river’s often fog-laced landscape and its many species of aquatic life was opening my heart to a peace that penetrated my soul in an unexplainable way.

Often, during the crisis and in its wake, I was compelled to jot down unexpected thoughts and daily expressions of gratitude. This resulting peace and equanimity not only benefited me personally, but this practice also consistently reenergized my passion to dedicate myself to do all I can to advance health and well-being.

Despite your daunting schedules, I urge each of you to devote time to connect to your personal interests and talents with the goal of being in touch with the deepest part of yourself. Take the time for stillness and contemplation. A session doesn’t have to be lengthy. What matters is the quality of the time you set aside for yourself. Take a short walk and discover that green or blue space just waiting for you somewhere reasonably close. In addition to rivers, lakes and the sea, bicycle and hiking trails, community gardens and parks are often accessible. The point is to explore your own passion and find your own place to just be you in the midst of this expansive universe.

And if you can’t get out, go in. Find a quiet room at a quiet time of the day. Once comfortable, journey inward. Just sit and be. Let your anxieties and your to-do lists emerge but give them no energy. Let them float away until it is just you with yourself. Observe as your heart begins to soften and gradually open.

I am not a professional photographer or an accomplished writer. No matter. I’ve learned that the point is to go wherever your heart leads you. The point is to open your heart and then follow it all the way through to how you conduct your daily work. As the spiritual poet Rumi advises: “Let the beauty you love be what you do.”

Let’s take the time to enjoy the beauty of our calling, the beauty of still being alive and caring about people so much that we are filled with empathy and compelled to continually develop the expertise necessary to care for them. We can never take that gentle spark deep inside us for granted. We owe it to ourselves, and to the people who depend on us, to take the time to do whatever is necessary to be in touch with our gentle spirits, so that we can nurture that sacred spark of caring for our patients and our communities.

Maybe I’ll see you on the river trail. I’ll be the smiling guy with a camera. Maybe you will take a walk and discover a patch of green near you … and maybe from time to time, you’ll just sit and watch the grass grow, or paint it, or take a photograph. Maybe you will just sit in a quiet room and be still. What you need is not found in the cacophony of social media. It is in the awe and wonder of a sunrise, the gentle play of first light on a tranquil river. What you need is whatever draws your heart. You owe it to yourself to let go and answer its call.

Reed V. Tuckson, M.D., MACP, was trained as a general internist and has served in numerous leadership roles across the breadth of the health ecosystem, including work in public health, academia, medical research, health foundations, medical societies, health insurance, hospitals, biopharma, and the distribution of medical supplies. An elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, Dr. Tuckson’s current focus is on his work as co-founder and board chair of the Coalition for Trust in Health & Science. He is the author and photographer of the book “Meditations Along the Chattahoochee River,” due to be published by Lucid House Publishing in September 2026.