Preventing Physician Burnout by Owning a Vineyard

Physician burnout is becoming a national emergency. Its rising prevalence is now estimated at 50 percent in some studies. Its effect on access to care, patient safety, and quality care are concerning and there is a concerted effort to educate physicians about the signs and symptoms as well as to create an environment and systems to reduce the effect. These include improving communication, changing workflow, and addressing clinician concerns via quality improvement. The author took another route. This included leaving a large academic medical center, and moving to a small western town, inheriting a vineyard and enrolling in a vineyard maintenance and wine academy. The practice of Neuro-ophthalmology was continued at a smaller regional hospital.