Professional Loneliness and the Loss of the Doctors’ Dining Room

The Article in Brief

Professional Loneliness and the Loss of the Doctors' Dining Room

John J. Frey III

Background Amongst the many ongoing discussions of physician burnout and dysphoria, the loss of professional connections and relationships among physicians -- being a part of a professional community -- is rarely mentioned as a source of professional unhappiness. In this essay, family physician John Frey reflects on how, as an intern in the 1960s, the hospital dining room for doctors was his source of political and medical acculturation and socialization.

What This Study Found The demise of doctors' dining rooms in subsequent years, Frey suggests, reflects the professional isolation that characterizes primary care practice today, with fewer opportunities to interact with colleagues, particularly those outside the physician's practice setting. For most medical professionals, he observes, lunch has become a solitary pursuit in front of a computer screen, rather than a shared collegial experience. Frey calls for more social interaction during medical training and more emphasis on being part of a community of professionals: "Not valuing time with other physicians or making informal conversations possible leads to a soulless efficiency and professional isolation that drains physicians of our ability to help ourselves, help each other and help patients," he writes.