Interventions to improve physicians' well-being and patient care: a commentary

Dr. Firth-Cozens begins her paper by reviewing a broad range of research related to physicians' stress, depression, and alcoholism (Firth-Cozens, 2001, Social Science and Medicine, 52, 215-222). She then argues that these psychological problems have a negative impact on patient care and describes the possible causes of these problems. Finally, she proposes a system of organizational and individual interventions to address these problems. Before accepting her conclusions and proposed system of interventions, an important issue should be considered. Is physicians' well-being an important goal in and of itself, or do we need strong evidence that physician stress, depression, and alcoholism lead to poor patient care and outcomes?