As a new academic year approaches, it is important to continue breaking the silence surrounding clinician burnout. During a highly emotional and personal panel discussion at the 2019 ACGME Annual Educational Conference in March, Dr. Nasca and colleagues from other national organizations in medicine discussed how burnout and self-doubt touched their lives. Influenced by those experiences and others throughout his career, Dr. Nasca has positioned the ACGME to help lead the charge to address physician well-being.

With overdose as the leading cause of death for Americans under 50, it is imperative that the nation—including the entire medical community—take responsibility for its role in creating this epidemic and identify and enact strategies that can address it. This is Dr. Leana Wen’s position. The former Baltimore Health Commissioner and current president of Planned Parenthood spoke about the steps she and the City of Baltimore took to address opioid addiction in the community, and what role she sees physicians playing in solving this problem that is devastating the nation.

John V. Pamula, MD, FACP, led a quality improvement project focused on reducing burnout and increasing well-being among its residents. His poster, Multipronged Strategies to Improve Wellbeing and Work-Life Balance of Residents, was presented at the 2019 Annual Educational Conference, Engaging Each Other: Rediscovering Meaning in Medicine.

Nick Yaghmour is the Associate Director for Well-Being and Milestones Research at the ACGME. We asked him about his experience with the conference, his role, and what else he's working on.

2020 David C. Leach Awardee Daniel Leifer, MD is a dermatology resident at the University of Washington, and a board-certified pediatrician.

This special edition of the ACGME's weekly e-Communication includes information on a well-being webinar May 7, and Frequently Asked Questions.

Debra L. Dooley GME Program Coordinator Excellence Awardee Jennifer Wilson, BA, C-TAGME is the GME program administrator for family medicine at the University of Vermont (UVM) Medical Center.