Isaac K S Ng, Sarah Z L Tham, Kar Mun Chong, Wilson G W Goh, Christopher Thong, Kevin Soon Hwee Teo
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Burnout is a prevalent phenomenon in medicine, affecting >50% of physicians and up to 60% of medical residents. This has negative consequences for both doctors' mental health and job satisfaction as well as patient care quality. While numerous studies have explored the causes, psychological effects, and workplace solutions, we aim to practicalize the issue from the perspectives of residents by discussing three key drivers of burnout and offering actionable, multipronged strategies that may be able to tackle these root causes effectively. From review of relevant literature and personal reflections/experiences, we identified three key factors that contribute to resident burnout, namely, (i) inherent physician attributes, (ii) mismatched expectations of the medical profession, and (iii) stressful nature of clinical work and residency training for junior physicians. We offer practical strategies that can be implemented by various stakeholders in a concerted manner to target these three areas, namely, to inculcate and foster accurate perception of the medical profession at the outset, develop psychological strength/resilience among medical residents, and make practical improvements to working and training environments.
期刊介绍:
Postgraduate Medical Journal is a peer reviewed journal published on behalf of the Fellowship of Postgraduate Medicine. The journal aims to support junior doctors and their teachers and contribute to the continuing professional development of all doctors by publishing papers on a wide range of topics relevant to the practicing clinician and teacher. Papers published in PMJ include those that focus on core competencies; that describe current practice and new developments in all branches of medicine; that describe relevance and impact of translational research on clinical practice; that provide background relevant to examinations; and papers on medical education and medical education research. PMJ supports CPD by providing the opportunity for doctors to publish many types of articles including original clinical research; reviews; quality improvement reports; editorials, and correspondence on clinical matters.