Walking and Talking about Physician Wellness with Dawn Clark, MD, Physician Chief Wellness Facilitator

Physician parking spot Kaiser Permanente San Dimas California 3235
Physician parking spot Kaiser Permanente San Dimas California 3235 – It’s the farthest space from the building entrance, because members are prioritized (View on Flickr.com)

The image of “Physician only” on the parking spot may seem to be a sign of EXclusivity but it’s the opposite. The space is located in the absolute farthest part of the parking lot from the building entrance. It’s a sign of INclusivity and support of members and patients at the Kaiser Permanente San Dimas Medical Office in San Dimas, California, USA. And, it’s also kind of a sign of wellness too, because in 2016, having a parking spot farther from a building entrance is health promoting / neurochemical-boosting.

I spied it in what was a cool moment for me, the opportunity to meet Dawn Clark, MD, Physician Chief Wellness Facilitator (@SCPMGPhysicianWellness) for Southern California Permanente Medical Group (@SCPMG). She holds this position in support of thousands of Permanente physicians as part of their wellness program, which you can learn about here.

2016.10.11 Visit with Dawn Clark, MD, San Dimas, CA USA 08253
2016.10.11 Visit with Dawn Clark, MD, San Dimas, CA USA 08253 (View on Flickr.com)

Dawn is also a practicing OB/Gyn specialist in the Southern California Permanente Medical Group, so you will have to excuse the slightly over/under exposed photo that I asked to take with her in between life activities. We did have the most pleasant walk around San Dimas where I learned about the work this medical group is doing to promote lasting change in the way physicians relate to themselves, their lives, and the environments around them, in service to their patients.

As she spoke about her leadership, this is the quote that immediately came to my mind (that I posted about previously):

Resilient people and companies face reality with staunchness, make meaning of hardship instead of crying out in despair, and improvise solutions from thin air. Others do not. This is the nature of resilience, and we will never completely understand it. – Coutu DL. How resilience works. Harv. Bus. Rev. 2002;80(5):46.

Even in a (the) highest performing medical groups in the world, wellness and resilience need to be practice, and maybe (probably) that contributes to high performance.

I have a few things on my reading list now and my reflection is that it’s really great to meet physicians who practice introspection and don’t assume anything needs to be the same because it’s the way they learned or were taught it.

Have I mentioned that I love this century? 🙂

1 Comment

Ted Eytan, MD