Coping with Burnout and Residents’ Quest for Work-Life Balance

The phenomenon of burnout---characterized by physical and emotional exhaustion, feelings of detachment from one’s job, and a sense of ineffectiveness – has reached epic proportions among practicing physicians and those in training.¹    

Of the more than 15,000 physicians from 29 specialties who responded to Medscape’s 2019 survey on burnout, 42 percent said they have experienced burnout; another 15 percent have experienced depression.^.2 In the survey, professionals in specialties such as critical care and obstetrics and gynecology ranked in the mid 40-percent range in terms of burnout, while pathology ranked at 33 percent.

Concern about burnout, depression and suicidal ideation has become so prevalent that the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) in 2017 updated the Common Program Requirements to focus more on resident wellbeing. 

Many, if not all, medical residency programs in the United States now offer wellbeing initiatives. Several years ago, after the suicide of a recent graduate, Stanford University’s School of Medicine launched a Balance in Life program. It focuses on four components of wellbeing: professional, physical, psychological, and social, and provides a variety of activities as well as leadership training, mentoring and counseling.³ One activity includes pairing junior residents with senior resident mentors who meet quarterly for lunch, which offers junior residents an informal setting in which to discuss any concerns.

Jennifer Kasten, MD, FASCP, a junior faculty member who serves on the Resident Wellness Committee at the University of Cincinnati Medical School, maintains that it’s also important that residency programs create a culture of flexibility and understanding in the workplace.

She began her pathology residency program several years ago when she was in her early 30s and already had two small children. Her third child was born before she completed her residency. She recalls that finding a sitter when a child was sick and couldn’t attend daycare was a huge stressor for her. Just having a colleague fill in for her until she could get to work was a god-send.

That type of collaborative environment can go a long way toward supporting those pathology residents as they navigate the many challenges of residency.

Meanwhile, Dr. Kasten has also sought to balance work and her own physical and emotional wellbeing by participating in sports, outdoor activities such as competing in trail running, and playing French horn in a community orchestra.

So while the quest for residents to achieve work-life balance might seem elusive, it can be done. 

 Resources

1. PLOS/ONE, Burnout Syndrome Among Medical Residents: A systematic review and meta-analysis, Hugo Rodrigues, et al., Nov. 12, 2018. Accessed Jan. 9, 2020.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0206840#pone.0206840.ref005
2.  Medscape, Medscape National Physician Burnout, Depression & Suicide Report 2019. Leslie Kane, MA, Jan. 16, 2019. Accessed Jan. 9, 2020. https://www.medscape.com/slideshow/2019-lifestyle-burnout-depression-6011056

3. American Medical Association, How One Program Achieved Resident Wellness, Work-life Balance, Lyndra Vassar, July 7, 2015. Accessed Jan. 9, 2020. https://www.ama-assn.org/residents-students/resident-student-health/how-one-program-achieved-resident-wellness-work-life.