An Antidote to Physician Burnout : The Balint Group as a Hermeneutic Clearing for the Possibility of Finding Meaning in Medicine[1]

The challenge of giving a ten-minute talk is always trying not to be too vague or too general or too banal while still saying something meaningful and coherent and stimulating. Four years ago in Charleston, I offered a possible marriage between hermeneutics and Balint leadership [1]. Today I want to try to promote a ménage a trois among physician bornout, hermeneutics and Balint work. In the interests of time, I will assume your familiarity with Balint work, and I will focus on physician bornout and hermeneutics. I will try to show how Balint work, seen from a hermeneutic perspective, has much to offer physicians, a group at great risk for burnout.

1 An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 11^th International Balint Congress, Exeter College, University of Oxford, England, September 12, 1998

References

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1 An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 11^th International Balint Congress, Exeter College, University of Oxford, England, September 12, 1998