Are doctors happy?

Perhaps you caught the New York Magazine feature, "All Joy and No Fun: Why Parents Hate Parenting."

Within the piece, citing numerous studies about parenthood delivering a blow to people's happiness, the author, a mother herself, describes parenthood as "a high-amplitude, high-frequency sine curve along which we get the privilege of doing hourly surfs," she writes. "Yet it's something most of us choose. Indeed, it's something most of us would say we'd be miserable without."

Sound familiar?

As with (and often in addition to) parenthood, physicians carry out noble, painstaking and often underappreciated work. Doctors are never truly off-duty. Medicare, malpractice, recession, regulatory changes and other business fears and frustrations aside, physicians are entrusted with others' lives.

And every once in a while, I'd imagine, the simple fulfillment of everyday doctoring or exhilaration of returning someone on the brink of death home to their family, regardless of the rest, is the only thing that matters.

But how do you endure all the decidedly not-so-transcendal moments in between?

Through some of my own occupational hazards (i.e., the beloved works of Disney and Pixar), I've had a few surprisingly powerful mantras subliminally encoded in my psyche:

• "Just keep swimming." (Dory, Finding Nemo)
• "Today is a new day." (Chicken Little)
• "Not today, Zurg!" (Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story 2)

For a more professional source of inspiration, I turn you to The Examining Room's Dr. Charles. In a guest post for health administrator Mary Pat Whaley's Manage My Practice blog, he writes:

"A perpetual state of happiness is not possible. As I write this I finish a fairly crappy day, and I just learned that Medicare (thanks to Senate Republicans) is cutting its payments to physicians by 20 percent. This will be disastrous for doctors, medical practices, and ultimately patients. But I went for a run today. I ate tasty fish cooked with garlic and tomatoes. I saw a beautiful sky at dusk and basked in a breezy, humidity-free day. I am thankful that I am not in pain, and that I was able to help some people through my work."

What helps you find your joy in medicine after your own crappy days? - Deb