Doctors' Day: Healing the Healers Begins Now

This Doctors' Day, we salute the ones who stand at the frontline of healing—our doctors.

Highlights:

Burnout and emotional fatigue begin early in medical training
The COVID-19 pandemic deepened mental health crises among doctors
Reforms must focus on support systems and empathy training

National Doctors Day in India is celebrated as a tribute to the contributions of Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, one of the pioneering physicians and a freedom fighter. This year's theme, "Behind the Mask: Who Heals the Healers," places the spotlight on doctors themselves and encourages society to recognize the emotional and ethical baggage our medical professionals take on silently. Amid a rising suspicion and systematic stress, the physicians who are meant to cure others are themselves experiencing a terrible burnout, both physically and mentally ().

Doctors Must Set Boundaries: Work-Life Balance Be Healthy to Prevent Stress
Physicians experience significant burnout and need to establish distinct boundaries between their professional and personal lives.

TOP INSIGHT

Did You Know?
Burnout now affects more than half of all doctors-yet most never ask for help and suffer in silence. #nationaldoctorsday #medindia

Behind the Mask: Burnout Is What's Hidden!

The World Health Organization now recognizes burnout among healthcare providers as an occupational phenomenon. Symptoms include:

Emotional exhaustion
Depersonalization (treating patients as cases, not people)
Reduced sense of accomplishment

The emotional labor of “caring” without care for oneself is unsustainable. National Doctors’ Day 2025 thus reminds us that the mask of invincibility must come off.

Blood and Spit Test to Detect Burnout
Now a simple blood test and spit test can detect a burnout before it actually happens, say researchers Dr. Sonia Lupien and Robert-Paul Juster.

How Compassion Gets Lost in Clinical Corridors

The problem of physicians’ burnout begins as early as their college days. A research article called ”Declining empathy trends throughout medical curriculum and association factors of low empathy among medical students and residents: a single center study,” states that most students enter medical school as idealistic and considerate people, but over time, they develop clinical detachment and emotional burnout.

Although the curriculum teaches them how to heal others, it can sometimes lead to psychological trauma, resulting in a loss of identity and suppression of their own emotions. There can also be a shift in values, prioritizing speed and efficiency over compassion, and maintaining a cold, detached front. Behind those masks lie silent struggles, and many are afraid to seek help for fear of being judged or labeled ().

Disturbing Trend Between Burnout and Work-Life Balance Among US Physicians
The number of physicians who say they are suffering from “burnout” has jumped to more than half as the practice of medicine becomes more complicated in the US.

From Celebrated to Scapegoated: The Pandemic Paradox

It was during the COVID-19 pandemic, while highlighting the bravery of frontline workers, that it also fueled blame, misinformation, and violent outbursts against doctors.

An interesting article published by the Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research has brought into focus the psychological effects of operating in a system scarred by unrealistic expectations, poor infrastructure, and frequent litigation. Many doctors feel trapped when expected to perform miracles, yet scapegoated when the system fails. This disconnect erodes not just trust in the system but doctors' own sense of purpose and well-being.

Physician Burnout Linked To Increased Burden Of Clerical & Desk Work
Heavy burden of electronic health records and paper work reduces the time of physician interaction with patients.

Rebuilding Trust: What Needs to Change?

1. Institutional Reforms:

Install independent cells of mental health support in hospitals for caregivers
Medical error should be decriminalized unless driven by gross negligence
Enhance doctor-patient communication systems

2. Reforms of Medical Education:

Integrate empathetic training and ethical resilience in the curriculum
Facilitate the positive effects of reflective practices such as narrative medicine and peer support groups

3. Public Re-engagement:

Humanize health professionals through storytelling
Observing the hard work and sacrifice of the medical experts
Promote direct participation of patients in health care decisions

4. Doctors Supporting Doctors:

Develop peer mentoring, counseling, and self-care interventions
Normalize talk about vulnerability

Doctors are trained to “care for others and not harm,” but when they inflict harm on themselves, it creates a workforce that loses empathy, and this can lead to depression and suicidal tendencies.

In a study, it was found that doctors have a higher suicide risk (2.5 times more) than the general population. The study reported that the suicide rate among female doctors was higher than male doctors, and most doctors were reported to be depressed, not seeking help ().

Behind the mask lies a human being who carries a baggage of suppressed emotions. This National Doctors’ Day, we must not only applaud their service but also ask what we are doing to support their humanity.

Let this be a turning point in how we view the medical profession—not as superhuman, but at least as mere humans.

References:

July 1 is National Doctors' Day: How to regain the lost public trust in healthcare? - (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6032718/)
Ethical erosion in newly qualified doctors: perceptions of empathy decline - (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5018358/)
Suicide among Indian doctors - (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8221226/)

Source-Medindia