"We are very family like": How do relationships with colleagues affect career satisfaction for surgeons?

Purpose: The objective of this research was to explore the role of surgeon relationships with their colleagues on career satisfaction.

Methods: This qualitative study employed a thematic analysis based on the core elements of The Grounded Theory Method. Forty-two pediatric neurosurgeons, cardio-thoracic surgeons and ophthalmologists were recruited from 9 countries around the globe and interviewed in-depth about the role of their collegial relationships on their career satisfaction. Data was coded line-by-line to extract themes and to identify patterns across the interviews.

Results: Career satisfaction was greatly enhanced by having a cohesive and healthy team. 'Healthy' teams were described as those that were emotionally supportive of each other, where colleagues could be trusted to back each other up, where communication was open and transparent, and where collaboration was the departmental norm. Career satisfaction was greatly diminished when there were interpersonal conflicts and personality clashes between surgeons, where there was poor departmental leadership creating a culture of fear and insecurity, when colleagues were perceived as egotistical, in competitive departments, where there was perceived to be an unequal distribution of work, and when surgeons felt alone and unsupported.

Conclusions: Our study found that healthy teams had very specific qualities that could be cultivated and enhanced on surgical teams by making a conscious effort to improve the workplace culture and psychological safety among the team. In the conclusions, a number of recommendations are made on how to go about achieving this goal.