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Behavioral Health and Well-Being
One-Hour Concurrent Session

Don’t Just Do Something, Stand There: Productivity Guilt and Its Impact on Clinicians

Sunday, February 23, 2025
11:45am – 12:45pm Eastern Time
Location: W414
CE: 1

The world expects more and more from clinicians. There is a constant push to see more patients, conduct more world-class research, write more curricula to teach more learners. Moreover, clinicians often expect more from themselves and can feel intense shame or disappointment if they achieve less than they anticipated. Productivity guilt is the name of this emotion, which also includes the belief that one has not worked as hard as one should. The same drive that pushes clinicians to be and do better can often cripple them when they think they haven’t attained enough. This can have a detrimental impact on their professional and personal lives, leading to burnout, anxiety, depression, social isolation, and paradoxically diminishing career advancement. This session is an introduction to productivity guilt in healthcare, its sources, and practical steps to mitigate it.

Learning Objectives:

  • Define productivity guilt and possible causes
  • Recognize the downstream negative impacts of productivity guilt
  • Identify how social media can impact our impression of others’ productivity
  • Appraise tools that critical care leaders can use to support clinicians to promote well-being
  • Develop practical strategies to mitigate the impact of productivity guilt on professional growth and well-being by addressing some root causes

Presentations:

  • 11:50am – 12:00pm Eastern Time
    Productivity Guilt: A Primer

    Andre Holder, MD, MS, FCCM – Emory University School of Medicine

  • 12:00pm – 12:10pm Eastern Time
    Boxed in by the Inboxes: Health Hygiene and Boundary Setting for Digital Communication

    Ankita Agarwal, MD, MSc (she/her/hers) – Emory University School of Medicine

  • 12:10pm – 12:20pm Eastern Time
    It Starts at the Top: The Role That Critical Care Leaders Play in Setting Productivity Expectations for Their Clinicians

    Steven Q. Simpson, MD – The University of Kansas Health System

  • 12:20pm – 12:30pm Eastern Time
    The Funhouse Effect: How Social Media Can Skew One's Definition of Success

    Neha Dangayach, MD, FCCP, FNCS – Mount Sinai Hospital