Body, Mind, Spirit

By Dr. Zachary West, DO:

As a doctor of osteopathic medicine (DO) my appreciation for the whole person approach to care is one that has continued to develop throughout my career. My osteopathic colleagues will certainly recall that one of the tenets of osteopathic medicine is the concept that a person is a unit of body, mind and spirit. It is important when treating a patient that a physician take into consideration and address these elements of the whole person in order to find health. It is equally important that we as physicians take the very advice we provide to our patients when it comes to our own well being.

My appreciation for the concept of body, mind, spirit took on an entirely new meaning when I discovered martial arts. Prior to my entry into direct primary care, I found myself in a dark period in life and a low point in myprofessional career. It was the persistence of an old friend and his urging to join him in karate class that changed everything. After that first session, I knew that I had discovered a new and important set of tools. Karate requires thefocus of the mind and strengthening of the body. All the while, I found myself experiencing a renewed spirit at the conclusion of a class.

Research suggests that nearly fifty percent of physicians report burnout. Medscape’s 2024 Physician Burnout and Depression Report revealed that 16% of female physicians and 14% of male physicians reported burnout so severe that they might leave medicine altogether. Primary care specialties including family medicine, pediatrics and internal medicine had some of the highest rates of reported burnout. Job stress was a major contributor to burnout and depression. The direct primary care model thankfully helps to address such stresses for many physicians by adjusting workplace measures such as improved work schedules and physician autonomy. Exercise was identified by many physicians as a coping mechanism for those experiencing burnout.

I somewhat jokingly refer to my training sessions as “group therapy”. No matter what I face daily as a physician, I have discovered that martial arts is the outlet that brings balance to my life. As physicians we work in a world with a multitude of daily stresses. Some things are modifiable while others are not. If we intend to care for others, we must learn to provide better self care towards ourselves.

Gichin Fuankoshi, the founder of Shotokan karate, said, “True karate is this: that in daily life one’s mind and body be trained and developed in a spirit of humility, and that in critical times, one be devoted utterly to the cause of justice.” I encourage you to find what brings balance to your life. Be sure to give consideration to your body, mind and spirit so that you might find health and in turn you might help others do the same.