A. Jambhekar1, Z. Nasrawi2, R. Lee2, H. Ali2, J. Rucinski2 1Columbia University College Of Physicians And Surgeons,Breast Surgery Division,New York, NY, USA 2New York Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital,Department Of Surgery,Brooklyn, NY, USA
Introduction: Current literature identifies burnout as a significant problem in all residency programs with emphasis on the highest risk for burnout in surgical residents. Several screening tools have been developed and validated, but none have been developed specifically pertaining to the surgical culture. The objective of the current study was to develop a screening tool to evaluate burnout risk in surgical residents.
Methods: The Surgery Burnout Survey was developed through the collaboration of two university affiliated community programs with components detailing emotional health, physical health, work-life balance, interpersonal relationships, compassion fatigue, and resilience. The survey was given to current surgical or surgical subspecialty residents in postgraduate years two through five (n = 7) as well as recent graduates (n= 7). Recent graduates were defined as surgical fellows and attendings who had graduated from residency in the past two years. The tests were scores out of a total of 200 points with higher scores indicating greater risk for burnout. Statistical analysis was conducted using Student’s t-test. Data is expressed as mean +/- standard deviation.
Results: The current surgical residents had a mean score of 138.1 +/- 18.0 compared to 109.7 +/- 12.4 for the recent graduates (p = 0.004). The residents scored higher in physical health, interpersonal relationships and resilience, and similar to recent graduates in emotional heath, work life balance, and fatigue. Qualitative interviews with all of the participants revealed they felt the survey captured the pressures of residency well and that many of these issues were not specifically addressed in other screening tools.
Conclusion: The Surgery Burnout Survey identified current surgical residents at higher risk for burnout compared to recent graduates. The breakdown of the scores suggested that current residents are experiencing stress in the areas of physical health, resilience, and interpersonal relationships which may allow for targeted interventions. Further studies are ongoing to validate the screening tool in a larger group of current surgical residents.
