Musiccosmos

Stanford Medicine hired Dr. Tait Shanafelt as chief wellness officer last year, not so much for the well-being of the patients — but of the physicians. An oncologist and hematologist by training, Shanafelt, 46, has become a national leader in the movement to end  physician “burnout”  — the cumulative effect of years of stress that can compromise patient care and cause doctors to leave medicine. After 12 years at the Mayo Clinic, Shanafelt now heads up Stanford’s  WellMD Center , dedicated to physician health. He also serves as an associate dean of the Stanford University medical school. He lives in Portola Valley, Calif., with his wife, a nurse, who works part-time, and their four children, ages 4 to 13. Dr. Tait Shanafelt (Julie Greicius/Stanford School of Medicine) Shanafelt’s goal is to address the systemic problems in medicine — long hours, a culture of blame, endless record-keeping — and find solutions that go far beyond  yoga classes  or  free...