Abstract
BackgroundOtolaryngology-Head and Neck surgery resident physicians (OHNSR) have a high prevalence of burnout, job dissatisfaction and stress as shown within the literature. Formal mentorship programs (FMP) have a proven track record of enhancing professional development and academic success. More importantly FMP have an overall positive impact on residents and assist in improving job satisfaction. The purpose of the study is to determine the effects of a FMP on the well-being of OHNSR.MethodsA FMP was established and all OHNSR participation was voluntary. Eight OHNSR participated in the program. Perceived Stress Survey (PSS) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) were administered at baseline and then at 3, 6, 9, and 12 month intervals. World Health Quality of Life-Bref Questionnaire (WH-QOL) was administered at baseline and at 12 months.ResultsBaseline statistics found a significant burden of stress and burnout with an average PSS of 18.5 with a high MBI of 47.6, 50.6, and 16.5 for the emotional, depersonalization, and personal achievement domains respectively. Quality of life was also found to be low with a WH-QOL score of 71.9. After implementation of the FMP, PSS was reduced to 14.5 at 3 months (p = 0.174) and a statistically significant lower value of 7.9 at 12 months (p = 0.001). Participants were also found to have lower emotional scores (14.9, p < 0.0001), levels of depersonalization (20.1, p < 0.0001), and higher personal achievement (42.5, p < 0.0001) on MBI testing at 12 months. Overall quality values using the WH-QOL was also found to be significantly improved (37.5, P = 0.003) with statistically significant lower scores for the physical health (33.9, p = 0.003), psychological (41.1, p = 0.001), social relationship (46.9, p = 0.019), and environment (53.5, p = 0.012) domains.ConclusionThis is the first study to show that FMP can potentially alleviate high levels of stress and burnout within a surgical residency program and achieve higher levels of personal satisfaction as well as overall quality of life.
Highlights
Otolaryngology-Head and Neck surgery resident physicians (OHNSR) have a high prevalence of burnout, job dissatisfaction and stress as shown within the literature
Formal mentorship program A formal mentorship program was established at the Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Alberta and the tiered mosaic model of mentorship was chose as the platform
Eight residents between PGY-1 to PGY-4 were enrolled in the Formal mentorship programs (FMP) in February 2015 at the University of Alberta (Edmonton, AB, Canada) and all consented to participating within the study
Summary
Otolaryngology-Head and Neck surgery resident physicians (OHNSR) have a high prevalence of burnout, job dissatisfaction and stress as shown within the literature. The effects of burnout can be disastrous and many studies Many stressors such as daily work demands, caring for sick patients, managing the demands of learning within an environment of job uncertainty are all potential unique contributors to burnouts amongst Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery residents (OHNSR) [6]. Many initiatives such as models for healthy work-life balance and decreasing work hours for residents have been instigated but they do not appear to be successful in mitigating the effects of these complex stressors [7, 8]. In addition to the potential of enhancing motivation, and productivity; formal mentoring programs have an overall positive impact on burnout and may assist in improving job satisfaction as well as career development by providing supports for success [10, 11]
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