Balance and self-care
The top workplace concern, by a large margin, was for work-life balance, reported by 44% of respondents, followed by compensation (19%), combining work and parenting (18%), and relationships with staff and colleagues (8%).
Approximately one-third (36%) of the ob.gyn. respondents said they made time to focus on personal well-being, compared with 35% of physicians overall. Although only 13% reported exercising every day, a total of 69% exercised at least twice a week, similar to the 70% of physicians overall who reported exercising at least twice a week.
“Work-life balance is high on the list of concerns, but physicians are split 50/50 on whether they would accept a salary reduction to improve this aspect of their lives,” Dr. Trolice said.
“Social relationships are a proven value to mental health, yet nearly 50% of ob.gyns. who reported feeling burnout use isolationism as their coping skill, citing a lack of severity to require treatment,” he noted. Nevertheless, more than 80% of responders were married and described their relationship as “good or very good.”
Address burnout at individual and organizational levels
“Sadly, the findings are not surprising,” said Iris Krisha, MD, of Emory University, Atlanta, in an interview. “Burnout rates have been steadily increasing among physicians across all specialties.” Barriers to reducing burnout exist at the organizational and individual level, therefore strategies to reduce burnout should address individual and organizational solutions, Dr. Krishna emphasized. “At the organizational level, solutions may include developing manageable workloads, creating fair productivity targets, encouraging physician engagement in work structure, supporting flexible work schedules, and allowing for protected time for education and exercise. On the individual level, physicians can work to develop stress management strategies, engage in mindfulness and self-care.”
To reduce the burden of bureaucratic tasks, “health care organizations can work toward optimizing electronic medical records and hire staff to offload clerical work, and physicians can seek training in efficiency,” said Dr. Krishna. In addition, “health care organizations can reduce the stigma that may surround burnout or mental health issues, as well as promote a culture of wellness and resilience,” to help reduce and prevent burnout.
Find positivity and purpose
Improving the workplace experience so physicians feel engaged and in control as they navigate their many responsibilities may help reduce burnout, said Dr. Trolice. On the individual level, “finding your purpose to give you more meaning at work, discovering the power of hope to embrace optimism, and building friendships at work for greater engagement with others,” can help as well.
“In the face of adversity and setbacks, people in happier workplaces tend to be better at coping with and recovering from work pressure and at reconciling conflict,” Dr. Trolice emphasized. “The practice of medicine has dramatically changed for many physicians compared with the original expectations when they applied to medical school. Nevertheless, it behooves physician to adapt to 21st century medical care as they remind themselves of their purpose.”
The report included responses from 12,339 physicians across 29 specialties who completed a 10-minute online survey between Aug. 30 and Nov. 5, 2020. Participants were required to be practicing U.S. physicians.