Summary: In order to make primary care better, we have to understand what is working and what isn’t – and not just in broad strokes, but in granular detail. <a href="http://www.drsinsky.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dr. Christine Sinsky</a> is on the cutting edge of this type of research, and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Sinsky%20CA%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=29101932" target="_blank" rel="noopener">publishes prolifically</a> on what is driving burnout in primary care, what specific steps we can take to fix it, and how to return joy to practice. Dr. Sinsky is the <a href="http://abimfoundation.org/person/christine-a-sinsky-md" target="_blank" rel="noopener">VP of Professional Satisfaction at the AMA</a> and has practiced as a general internist for 30 years in Dubuque, Iowa. We talk about her landmark work with Tom Bodenheimer, which introduced the idea of the <a href="http://www.annfammed.org/content/12/6/573.full" target="_blank" rel="noopener">quadruple aim in 2013</a>, how <a href="http://annals.org/aim/article-abstract/2657167/novel-metrics-improving-professional-fulfillment" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new EHR metrics</a> can improve how we deliver care and improve the experience of caregivers and patients, and the extent of the <a href="http://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196(17)30637-7/abstract" target="_blank" rel="noopener">burnout crisis in medicine at large</a>, not just primary care. You can find the call for research that Dr. Sinksy referenced and collaborated on with Dr. Lotte Dyrbye and other leaders in this field <a href="https://nam.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Burnout-Among-Health-Care-Professionals-A-Call-to-Explore-and-Address-This-Underrecognized-Threat.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. We previously featured one of Dr. Sinksy’s <a href="http://annals.org/aim/article-abstract/2546704/allocation-physician-time-ambulatory-practice-time-motion-study-4-specialties" target="_blank" rel="noopener">publications</a>, which showed that physicians spend about 2 hours doing clerical work for every 1 hour they see patients in a journal club, which you can find <a href="http://rospod.org/2017/01/17/journal-club-sinsky-et-al-allocation-of-physician-time-in-ambulatory-practice-a-time-and-motion-study-in-4-specialties/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.<br> If you enjoyed the show, please give us 5 stars wherever you listen. Tweet us your thoughts <a href="https://twitter.com/RoSpodcast" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@RoSpodcast</a> and leave us a message on our facebook page at <a href="http://www.facebook.com/reviewofsystems" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.facebook.com/reviewofsystems</a>. Or, you can email me at <a href="mailto:audrey@rospod.org">audrey@rospod.org</a>. We’d love to hear from you, and thanks for listening.<br> This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity. Photo courtesy of Christine Sinsky.<br>
