Editing Physician (section)

===Physicians' own health===
Some commentators have argued that physicians have duties to serve as role models for the general public in matters of health, for example by not smoking cigarettes.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Appel JM |title=Smoke and mirrors: one case for ethical obligations of the physician as public role model |journal=Camb Q Healthc Ethics |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=95–100 |year=2009 |pmid=19149049 |doi=10.1017/S0963180108090142|s2cid=42678745 }}</ref> Indeed, in most western nations relatively few physicians smoke, and their professional knowledge does appear to have a beneficial effect on their health and lifestyle. According to a study of male physicians in the United States,<ref name=frank>{{cite journal |author=Frank E|author2=Biola H|author3=Burnett CA |title=Mortality rates and causes among U.S. physicians |journal=Am J Prev Med |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=155–9 |date=October 2000 |pmid=11020591 |doi=10.1016/S0749-3797(00)00201-4|doi-access=free }}</ref> [[life expectancy]] is slightly higher for physicians (73 years for white and 69 years for black) than lawyers or many other highly educated professionals. Causes of death which are less likely to occur in physicians than the general population include respiratory disease (including [[pneumonia]], [[pneumoconioses]], [[Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease|COPD]], but excluding [[emphysema]] and other [[chronic airway obstruction]]), alcohol-related deaths, [[Rectosigmoid neoplasm|rectosigmoid]] and [[anal cancer]]s, and bacterial diseases.<ref name=frank/>

Physicians do experience exposure to [[occupational hazard]]s, and there is a well-known aphorism that "doctors make the worst patients".<ref name=schneck>{{cite journal |author=Schneck SA |title='Doctoring' doctors and their families |journal=JAMA |volume=280 |issue=23 |pages=2039–42 |date=December 1998 |pmid=9863860 |doi=10.1001/jama.280.23.2039|doi-access=free }}</ref> Causes of death that are shown to be higher in the physician population include [[suicide among doctors]] and [[Self inflicted injury|self-inflicted injury]], drug-related causes, traffic accidents, and cerebrovascular and ischaemic heart disease.<ref name=frank/> Physicians are also prone to [[occupational burnout]]. This manifests as a long-term stress reaction characterized by poorer quality of care towards patients, emotional exhaustion, a feeling of decreased personal achievement, and others. A study by the [[Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality]] reported that time pressure was the greatest cause of burnout; a survey from the [[American Medical Association]] reported that more than half of all respondents chose "too many bureaucratic tasks" as the leading cause of burnout.<ref>{{cite web |title=Physician Burnout |url=https://www.ahrq.gov/prevention/clinician/ahrq-works/burnout/index.html |website=[[Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality]] |access-date=31 July 2020 |date=July 2017 |archive-date=20 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020082029/https://www.ahrq.gov/prevention/clinician/ahrq-works/burnout/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Berg |first1=Sara |title=Physician burnout: It's not you, it's your medical specialty |url=https://www.ama-assn.org/residents-students/specialty-profiles/physician-burnout-it-s-not-you-it-s-your-medical-specialty |website=[[American Medical Association]] |access-date=31 July 2020 |date=3 August 2018 |archive-date=20 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020021709/https://www.ama-assn.org/residents-students/specialty-profiles/physician-burnout-it-s-not-you-it-s-your-medical-specialty |url-status=live }}</ref>