Dr Stephen Parnis is back from burnout: ‘I lost confidence to make decisions’
The high-profile emergency specialist says he is a wiser doctor after realising he needed to be gentler on himself
When Dr Stephen Parnis — burnt out, anxious, exhausted — stepped back from the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic he says he felt guilty.
It was that common issue every doctor faces — that sense you are abandoning your colleagues in a time of turmoil.
“It felt as though I was letting everyone down,” the high-profile ED physician says of his decision.
But having now returned after three months away, he knows it was the right thing. He also knows from now on it won’t be the last break he takes in his career.
