We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful William Lynes, Md. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with William below.

William, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?

I am a physician, author of medically related fiction, and physician burnout advocate, writer, and speaker.

After two life-threatening experiences involving lengthy intensive care unit visits which interrupted my clinical urologist practice, I found myself struggling with a black severe depression which progressed into a downward spiral into darkness. Several suicide attempts culminated in my 2003 retirement from clinical practice. My decision to come forward with my struggle with physician burnout, mental illness, and suicide is my defining moment.

In 2017 I wrote and published the essay entitled The Last day which was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Since then I have been an advocate for the subject of physician burnout and mental illness in the medical profession, speaking and writing on the subject.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

William Lynes, MD (b 1953), is a physician, author, and advocate for physician burnout and mental illness in the medical profession.

Dr. Lynes attended the University of Texas Medical Branch where he obtained a medical degree in 1981. His urologic and surgical training was completed at Stanford University Medical Center in 1987. He practiced general urology from 1987 to 2003 with the Southern California Kaiser Permanente Medical Group in Riverside California.

In 1998, Dr. Lynes experienced two life-threatening illnesses, requiring extensive intensive care unit admissions. His rehabilitation was complicated by severe depression and eventually several suicide attempts. To save his life he retired in 2003.

His decision to become an advocate for physician burnout, suicide, and mental illness in the medical profession resulted in the authorship of The Last Day, an essay chronicling his last day of medical practice. It was published in 2017 in the Annals of Internal Medicine and has led to his career in physician advocacy.

Dr., Lynes is the author of many medically related fiction novels, his most recent being A Surgeon’s Tale the sequel to his award-winning prequel A Surgeon’s Knot. He lives with his wife Patrice in Temecula California.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

In 1998 and 2001 I experienced two life-threatening catastrophic illnesses. These included lengthy intensive care unit admissions due to sepsis and facial trauma. I spent over four weeks on a ventilator, and eight total weeks in the ICU. I lost forty pounds on two occasions, required two tracheostomies, and experienced lung, kidney, and liver failure. While I survived and was able to rehabilitate physically, I was never the same.

My rehabilitation was complicated by severe morbid depression and I attempted to commit suicide on three occasions.

Three to four hundred physicians commit suicide in the United States each year. Fully two percent of the physician population in our country attempt suicide annually. Nearly all of these individuals suffer from physician burnout, many complicated by mental illness.

Through a long period of personal reflection, I began to advocate for physician burnout and mental illness in the medical profession. Through my speaking and writing, I have begun to heal. I hope that my actions have helped the noble profession of medicine.

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

I would answer this question with a resounding yes.

The medical profession is a challenging one. While I struggled through difficult times, it is a noble profession, one in which the rewards that I received far outweighed the burdens. It is a profession of healing, one in which you reap the rewards of benefiting patients and society in general.

I believe that God chose me for the profession of medicine. I believe that he created me as a healer. I believe that the struggles that I faced were designed to grow me as a follower of Jesus Christ.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://lynesonline.com
• Instagram: @wlynesmd
• Facebook: @wlynesmd
• Linkedin: @wlynesmd
• Twitter: @wlynesmd

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