Ensuring Well-Being in a Postpandemic World: Ensuring our Specialty Maintains its Resilience

Clinician well-being and burnout has been the subject of numerous academic studies and media attention as a cause of individuals leaving the field and medical errors. The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the issues with the stressors of taking care of ill individuals and the loneliness from continuously wearing masks. In this issue of Anesthesiology Clinics, the editors have assembled a series of articles with a focus on the unique challenges in specific populations. They also have numerous articles on strategies to enhance well-being.

We were fortunate to identify two leaders to edit this issue. Alison Brainard, MD is an Associate Professor at the University of Colorado in the Department of Anesthesiology. She is a member of the Occupational Health and the Physician Well-Being Committees within the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA). She is the co-director of well-being for the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Colorado and is a founding member for the hospital’s Faculty Engagement and Well-Being Committee. Alison has been leading the resident well-being curriculum for the last 6 years and has multiple publications on the topics of well-being and curricular design. Dr Brainard has spoken around the country on the topics of resiliency, second victim, peer support, and burnout. Lyndsay M. Hoy, MD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She is currently a member of the ASA’s Committee on Physician Well-Being, the department wellness champion for the Perelman School of Medicine Faculty Wellness Committee and the Penn GME Wellness Committee, co-lead for Penn Women in Anesthesiology, faculty co-director of Rx/Museum, and a board member of The LAM Foundation. She is a Harvard Macy fellow and recently completed the Stanford Physician Well-being Director course and the Empowering Women Physicians coaching program. Together they have assembled a stellar group of authors.