The joys of medicine
1988 alumna Dr. Renee Blanding dedicates her career to helping fellow physicians on their path to wellness
It began with a break.
At age 5, Renee Blanding fell from her grandmother’s porch and fractured her left arm. She remembers rushing to get dressed in her Sunday best — mint green dress, lace socks, white shoes — before visiting a doctor in her hometown of Camden, South Carolina, an encounter that would impact the course of her life.
“The physician was very kind and spoke not only to my aunt but also to me directly,” says Blanding, MD ’88. “He told me exactly what he was going to do and even apologized that he might get plaster from the cast on my pretty dress. I was 5 and he spoke to me in terms I understood. After that, I decided I wanted to be like him: kind and helping people who were not feeling well.”
Renee Blanding, MD ’88
Fast-forward to today, and Blanding has spent the last 30 years caring for patients in Baltimore, thanks in part to the influence of her first role model.
As vice president of medical affairs and medical director of the operating room at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Blanding begins her day at 3:30 a.m. by answering emails and spends the next several hours toggling between attending safety and quality meetings, seeing patients during rounds and developing initiatives to address physician wellness — a topic that’s become more top of mind in today’s ever-changing health care landscape.
In fact, a 2018 Medscape survey of more than 15,000 physicians across the U.S. revealed that 42 percent of physicians reported feeling burned out.
“The well-being of the physician is in peril,” says Blanding, who is also an assistant professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. “I picture Atlas carrying the world on his shoulders, and I believe physicians feel this way. Sometimes we get bogged down by administrative requirements, which are important, but we need to emphasize we are patient care professionals who work in a health care environment. And for us to take the best care of our patients, we have to be at our best.”
Blanding attributes some of the stresses her colleagues face to the evolution of medical technology, constant access to information and feelings of isolation. She aims to ease some of those stresses at her institution through initiatives such as peer support groups, where providers can come together to discuss challenges and solutions. During Alumni Weekend in November, she also delivered the Notable Alumnus Lecture on “Maintaining the Joys of Medicine” to share insight with her fellow UF College of Medicine graduates.
“For me, the joy of medicine comes from being able to contribute something in a challenging environment and feeling like I’ve made a difference,” she says. “My mission is to be the best communicator, listener, team member, clinician and leader I can be. If we recognize our power and what we can do to improve lives — for our patients and for our team, and ourselves — that will only continue to increase the joy we get.”
