How to Get the Most Out Of Your Doctor Visit: A Guide for Primary Care Patients

Anyone who works in a primary care center in Virginia long enough will eventually be faced with the double-edged sword of providing care to others while also caring for oneself. At times, it can feel like you have to choose one or the other. As a provider, you might find it difficult to take time for yourself during an appointment or shift. You’re constantly thinking about your patients and their needs and trying not to neglect your own basic needs. Fortunately, the rewards of being a primary care provider are innumerable - especially when we make time for ourselves. In this blog post, we’ll go over six ways that you can take better care of yourself as a primary care provider:

Be aware of your mental, physical and emotional self-care needs.

If you’re anything like me, you’ve heard the term “self-care” since you were a kid, but you’ve never been able to actually define what it means. This is something you should be aware of as a primary care provider - not just for the sake of your patients, but also for yourself. It’s impossible to take care of others if you aren’t taking care of yourself first. To begin with, mental self-care is the practice of actively managing your mental health so that your emotions don’t manage you. It’s important to be aware of the signs of when your mental health is beginning to suffer and how to get back on track if it does. Physical self-care, on the other hand, is the practice of taking care of your body through things like proper nutrition, hydration, and adequate rest.

Commit to daily self-care rituals.

Creating daily rituals is essential if you want to make self-care a part of your routine. For example, you might decide to take a 10-minute walk outside during your lunch break every day. Or you might set a reminder on your phone to take a few minutes to yourself before every appointment. You can also make self-care Family practice doctors in Vienna. For example, you can use visualization techniques to calm yourself before an appointment, or you can make time to write down positive affirmations related to taking care of yourself and your patients.

Keep an ongoing to-do list for self-care.

Creating a to-do list for self-care can help you stay on top of your mental and Primary Care Physician’s health needs. You may want to write down activities like daily exercise, healthy eating, mindfulness practice, connecting with loved ones, setting aside time for rest, or reading about positive psychology. The key here is to make it a routine and make it a priority. It doesn’t matter how many tasks you have on your list if you never get to them. Make time for self-care, and make sure it’s the first thing you do each day.

Schedule time for exercise.

Regular exercise can do wonders for your mental and physical health. It can help reduce stress, improve your mood, and give you more energy. It can also be a great outlet for energy and tension, while also providing you with an opportunity to be alone with your thoughts. When you’re first starting out, it’s important to schedule time for exercise (rather than adding it to your to-do list). Otherwise, you run the risk of adding more stress to your life by trying to squeeze it into your already packed schedule. You can start by committing to 15 minutes of exercise a day. Then, as time goes on, you can build up to more.

Find community and support.

We spend an inordinate amount of time with our patients - but we don’t spend nearly as much time with our peers. You might be surprised to learn that a lot of providers live in isolation - even though they provide care for others. This can lead to feelings of loneliness and isolation, which can affect your mental health as a provider. To combat this, look for support groups and organizations related to your profession and/or patients (e.g., diabetes organizations, support groups for patients with depression and anxiety, etc.). This can provide you with a sense of belonging and camaraderie, and it can give you the opportunity to help others who are in a similar situation as you are.

Conclusion

Above all else, remember that you deserve to take care of yourself. After all, you’re an important part of the healthcare system, too. Without you, we don’t have anyone to care for our patients. If you’re feeling stressed, overworked, or burnt out, don’t be afraid to reach out for support. There are many ways in which you can take better care of yourself, and you deserve it.

If you are looking Best Primary Care Physician in Vienna, VA Heale Medical provides a comprehensive proactive and technology-enabled approach to total body wellness. Our state-of-the-art technology enables access to care beyond what other primary care practices can offer.