Liubov Melnyk (doctor, Tulchyn, Vinnytsia region)
Hello! My name is Liubov Melnyk and I am a general practitioner at the Tulchyn primary care centre, run by Tulchyn city council. In March 2025, I was lucky enough to take part in an event organised by HUSOME for doctors: a psychological training course entitled “Stress management and burnout prevention”. Almost six months have passed, and I can now draw conclusions about what was really useful to me in this course, its impact on the quality of my work, and why I strongly recommend it to my colleagues. And there is no doubt about it!
Work at our hospital is characterised by a very heavy workload, limited resources and strong emotional involvement: patients with multiple needs (today we see many veterans), emergency calls, lack of time for paperwork and for communicating with families. So I came to this course with high expectations: to acquire practical tools for managing stress and sustaining my professional performance over the long term.
Content and methods of the course: thanks to a structured but concise theoretical part, I understood the mechanisms of stress and burnout (differences, phases, physical and mental manifestations). The practical part taught us breathing techniques to reduce stress quickly, and techniques for grounding, concentration and psycho-emotional release.
I particularly appreciated the practical advice on managing priorities, delegating, setting boundaries, and the protocols for controlling one’s own aggression and that of patients. The exercises on teamwork, including constructive feedback and conflict resolution, were very valuable.
I am also grateful for the scenarios and simulations of the stressful situations doctors face today: communicating with an aggressive or very emotional patient, practising structured conversations with relatives, breaking bad news, and handling conflicts with difficult colleagues.
Today, I can say that what I learned during the course has become a valuable habit: I now systematically take short breaks (up to 2 minutes) between patients to refocus, breathe, reconnect with reality and “switch” my attention. This has considerably reduced my sense of overload and helped me stay more attentive to each patient. I have also noticed improved clarity in my decision-making: using priorities and micro-planning lets me manage the time spent on consultations, paperwork and emergencies more effectively.
Communicating with patients and their relatives has become much easier: consultations are now more structured, and there are fewer conflicts, because I better understand where they come from and have mastered techniques for preventing conflicts and managing my own aggression. Without a doubt, this is one of the best courses I have taken: it gave me not only effective tools, protocols and knowledge, but was also a real gift that allowed me to renew myself. I sincerely thank the organisers and recommend this course to all my colleagues!
