Publication
The well-being of Swiss general internal medicine residents
Journal Paper/Review - Jun 18, 2020
Zumbrunn Brigitta, Vollenweider Peter, Reny Jean-Luc, Petignat Pierre-Auguste, Huber Lars Chistian, Henzen Christoph, Hayoz Daniel, Genné Daniel, Brändle Michael, Beer Jürg Hans, Battegay Edouard, Bassetti Stefano, Ballmer Peter E, Limacher Andreas, Stalder Odile, Aujesky Drahomir
Units
PubMed
Doi
Citation
Type
Journal
Publication Date
Issn Electronic
Pages
Brief description/objective
BACKGROUND
Physician well-being has an impact on productivity and quality of care. Residency training is a particularly stressful period.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the well-being of general internal medicine (GIM) residents and its association with personal and work-related factors.
METHODS
We conducted an anonymous electronic survey among GIM residents from 13 Swiss teaching hospitals. We explored the association between a reduced well-being (≥5 points based on the Physician Well-Being Index [PWBI]) and personal and work-related factors using multivariable mixed-effects logistic regression.
RESULTS
The response rate was 54% (472/880). Overall, 19% of residents had a reduced well-being, 60% felt burned out (emotional exhaustion), 47% were worried that their work was hardening them emotionally (depersonalisation), and 21% had career choice regret. Age (odds ratio [OR] 1.19, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.05–1.34), working hours per week (OR 1.04 per hour, 95% CI 1.01–1.07) and <2.5 rewarding work hours per day (OR 3.73, 95% CI 2.01–6.92) were associated with reduced well-being. Administrative workload and satisfaction with the electronic medical record were not. We found significant correlations between PWBI score and job satisfaction (rs = -0.54, p<0.001), medical errors (rs = 0.18, p<0.001), suicidal ideation (rs = 0.12, p = 0.009) and the intention to leave clinical practice (rs = 0.38, p <0.001) CONCLUSIONS: Approximately 20% of Swiss GIM residents appear to have a reduced well-being and many show signs of distress or have career choice regret. Having few hours of rewarding work and a high number of working hours were the most important modifiable predictors of reduced well-being. Healthcare organisations have an ethical responsibility to implement interventions to improve physician well-being.