TY - JOUR
T1 - Improving physician well-being and reducing burnout using a peer-to-peer recognition program
AU - Chang, Jenny
AU - Saggar, Vinay
AU - Cortijo-Brown, Alexis
AU - Friedman, Benjamin W.
AU - Jones, Michael
AU - Li-Sauerwine, Simiao
AU - Rebillot, Katie
AU - Corbo, Jill
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.
PY - 2023/4
Y1 - 2023/4
N2 - Background: Drivers of physician burnout include an intricate interplay between health care organizational structures, societal influences, and individual-level factors. In the traditional workforce, peer-to-peer recognition programs (PRPs) have reduced burnout by building a sense of community and effectively creating a “wellness culture.” We implemented a PRP in an emergency medicine (EM) residency and determined its impact on subjective symptoms of burnout and wellness. Methods: This was a prospective, pre- and postintervention study conducted in a single residency over a 6-month period. All 84 EM residents of the program were sent a voluntary anonymized survey that included a validated instrument on wellness and burnout. A PRP was initiated. After 6 months, a second survey was distributed. The outcome of the study was to examine whether the addition of a PRP reduced burnout and improved wellness. Results: There were 84 respondents to the pre-PRP survey and 72 to the post-PRP survey. Respondents reported an improvement after the inception of the use of the PRP in two factors that contribute to a physician's wellness: feeling recognized for accomplishments at work, which improved from 45% (38/84) affirmative to 63% (45/72; 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.3%–32.4%, p = 0.025) and a comfortable and supportive work environment, which improved from 68% (57/84) to 85% (61/72; 95% CI 3.5%–29.3%, p = 0.014). There was no significant effect in the Stanford Professional Fulfillment Index (PFI) as a result of this intervention over the 6 months. Conclusions: A PRP initiative resulted in improvements in several factors that drive physician wellness but overall burnout measured by the Stanford PFI did not show any improvement over the 6-month period. A future longitudinal study examining the continuous assessment of PRP on the EM residents throughout the entire course of 4 years of residency training would be beneficial to determine if it could change burnout from year to year.
AB - Background: Drivers of physician burnout include an intricate interplay between health care organizational structures, societal influences, and individual-level factors. In the traditional workforce, peer-to-peer recognition programs (PRPs) have reduced burnout by building a sense of community and effectively creating a “wellness culture.” We implemented a PRP in an emergency medicine (EM) residency and determined its impact on subjective symptoms of burnout and wellness. Methods: This was a prospective, pre- and postintervention study conducted in a single residency over a 6-month period. All 84 EM residents of the program were sent a voluntary anonymized survey that included a validated instrument on wellness and burnout. A PRP was initiated. After 6 months, a second survey was distributed. The outcome of the study was to examine whether the addition of a PRP reduced burnout and improved wellness. Results: There were 84 respondents to the pre-PRP survey and 72 to the post-PRP survey. Respondents reported an improvement after the inception of the use of the PRP in two factors that contribute to a physician's wellness: feeling recognized for accomplishments at work, which improved from 45% (38/84) affirmative to 63% (45/72; 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.3%–32.4%, p = 0.025) and a comfortable and supportive work environment, which improved from 68% (57/84) to 85% (61/72; 95% CI 3.5%–29.3%, p = 0.014). There was no significant effect in the Stanford Professional Fulfillment Index (PFI) as a result of this intervention over the 6 months. Conclusions: A PRP initiative resulted in improvements in several factors that drive physician wellness but overall burnout measured by the Stanford PFI did not show any improvement over the 6-month period. A future longitudinal study examining the continuous assessment of PRP on the EM residents throughout the entire course of 4 years of residency training would be beneficial to determine if it could change burnout from year to year.
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U2 - 10.1002/aet2.10861
DO - 10.1002/aet2.10861
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85153871516
SN - 2472-5390
VL - 7
JO - AEM Education and Training
JF - AEM Education and Training
IS - 2
M1 - e10861
ER -