We Didn't Start the Fire — But We're Burning OutWe Didn't Start the Fire — But We're Burning Out
Addiction Medicine Made Easy
Emergency physician Casey Grover talks with wellness-focused ER doctor James Maskalyk about burnout, substance use as coping, and finding humane ways to stay in or step back from high-stress clinical work. Their conversation blends personal stories with practical ideas for wellness, peer support, and reconnecting with purpose.
40:42•21 Sept 2026
Burnout, Bedside Care and Why Clinicians Need to Heal Themselves
Episode Overview
- Wellness can be simply defined as looking forward to going into work most days, rather than never wanting to be there.
- Substance use, even in seemingly "normal" patterns like heavy caffeine and nightly alcohol, can quietly become a coping tool for distressed clinicians.
- Peer support and structured debriefing after difficult cases help staff feel seen, connected, and less isolated in their distress.
- Regular time away from clinical work, such as annual sabbaticals or genuine rest periods, can renew love for medicine and reduce burnout risk.
- Therapy, journaling, and honest self-questioning about what is truly nourishing can support healthcare workers in deciding whether and how to stay in high-stress roles.
“Medicine is an act of empathy. I’ve got to put myself in so many shoes. I haven’t even filled my own shoes yet, so let me work on that.”
What remarkable journeys have people faced head-on against addiction and burnout in acute care medicine? This episode of *Addiction Medicine Made Easy* brings together emergency physician–turned–addiction specialist Dr Casey Grover and Toronto ER doctor and wellness director Dr James Maskalyk for a raw, honest chat about what happens when the work you love starts to hurt you.
You’ll hear Casey share how he went from chief resident to department chair and chief of staff, all while quietly relying on "four cups of coffee in the morning and two glasses of red wine at night" just to function. He describes success on paper, awards, and leadership roles, yet feeling himself slipping into resentment, PTSD symptoms, and emotional exhaustion before he even realised something was wrong.
James talks about his path into wellness, sparked by an "indignant stance" that it’s "crazy" we don’t study the health of the people caring for the most distressed patients. He recounts his own crisis: cancer during the delta wave of COVID, being unable to care about a single chart, and then being stunned when colleagues immediately picked up his shifts and gave him the income.
That moment of being "held by something bigger" fuels his push for kinder systems, sabbaticals, peer support, and meaningful debriefs after tough cases. The conversation gets practical: redefining wellness as looking forward to work most days, challenging metrics that value speed over healing, and naming how substance use can quietly become a coping tool for clinicians and first responders. Therapy, journaling, time away from the department, and reconnecting with purpose all show up as simple but often neglected tools.
If you’re a healthcare worker, first responder, or anyone who cares for others until you’re running on fumes, this episode asks one big question: how long can you keep giving without learning to love and care for yourself first?
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