What can we learn from professional sport?

I watched with interest a BBC programme tonight on the detrimental effect of professionalism on elite sportsmen and it got me thinking about how it could also apply to doctors.

Professional athletes today have become more efficient, more driven and harder trained, with more facilities at their disposal than ever before in history. Some people spend their lives analysing sport, the perfect way to swing a tennis racket or golf club and the ultimate training regimes. Much of the time this is what drives people to the top to be the best, with every minute of every day fit for a specific purpose. But is this a damaging way to the top? Can this be sustained?

Some of the best sportsmen in modern day, are the ones who still look like they’re enjoying themselves. The ones who are happy with what they do and satisfied with their lives. For example I look at Roger Federer, Usain Bolt and Lionel Messi, athletes who still look like they keep some of that fun they had when they played as kids, before they signed their professional contracts, sponsorship deals and so on and so forth. Athletes who still lead healthy lives off the pitch, and I have no doubt, take time to get away from the game from time to time.

Compare these players to the ones we’ve seen fall from grace in recent times due to their disharmony off the pitch. The Wayne Rooneys and Tiger Woods. There can be no denying that their performance has been affected by things which have happened off the court. Tiger Woods is someone who looks as if his drive and obsessively hard-working approach has ultimately led to his divorce away from golf, and now his poor form on the course. Yes, he was one of the greatest golfers in history, but I doubt he will ever recover fully from the events of the past 12 months. People most often quote the astronomical salaries and immense pressures on England’s footballers as the reason for their failings in the world cup this year. There was never any doubt about the talent on the pitch, but at not one moment did the players look like they were enjoying themselves.

I think that this theory can be applied to medicine as well. It is often said that we are all our harshest critics, but maybe it’s important to take a step back from time to time. A happy doctor is a good doctor, we don’t have to be perfectionists to be good at what we do. I feel that the key to avoiding burnout is taking regular breaks from medicine from time to time, and keeping other interests away from the hospital wards. Medicine is a long, hard career and to make it all the way, this is the kind of doctor I will aspire to be on graduating from medical school next year.