Resilient Threads: Weaving Joy and Meaning into Well-Being

by Mukta Panda, Mukta Panda

Physician burnout, depression, and suicide are tearing at the fabric of our health care system, which Mukta Panda has witnessed firsthand. In a culture that privileges evidence over empathy, technology over touch, and what's measurable over what's meaningful, many of us--no matter our profession--feel more fragmented and isolated than ever. In Resilient Threads: Weaving Joy and Meaning into Well-Being , Dr. Panda gives voice to the exhaustion and gives courage for another way. As a physician and medical educator, she has fought to return human touch to healthcare. As a mother, she has committed--and sometimes failed--to balance the personal with the professional. And as an immigrant, she has clung to the wisdom of her family and faith in the face of discrimination and fear. By weaving stories of connecting to her patients, students, and colleagues with her own stories of belonging, she models how we can each thrive by creating community and self-awareness. "Ritual, relationships, and reflection are key threads in how I learned to thrive," Dr. Panda writes in the introduction. So, too, are they key for the thriving of our world. The well-being of our clinicians and patients, teachers and students, parents and children depends on integrating these threads into a new social fabric, one that honors the whole of who we are with what we do.

Genres: Nonfiction

272 pages, Paperback

Published January 31, 2020

Reviews

[Sarah Rex]

I read this book with my book club. My book club has a bunch of medical professionals in it, so when it was chosen I thought, how am I, a singer/theatre person, going to get anything from this book? Fast forward 2 weeks.

I really feel like this book has something for everyone. Dr. Panda has a way of writing that gets you to self reflect in whatever profession you are in. The emphasis is the importance of being human, being vulnerable and caring for yourself while caring for others. I caught myself highlighting various passages to reflect on.

[Christine Herbert]

Dr. Panda courageously explores her journey as a medical professional—first in India, then in the USA. Weaving together stories of inspiration, loss, discrimination and triumph drawn from her own life—as well as her colleagues and patients lives—she invites the reader to examine the challenges facing physicians who strive to provide compassionate care in our modern medical system. An engaging read!

[Anna Claire]

warm fuzzies how to be a person 101