The happy docs study: a Canadian Association of Internes and Residents well-being survey examining resident physician health and satisfaction within and outside of residency training in Canada

Abstract

BackgroundFew Canadian studies have examined stress in residency and none have included a large sample of resident physicians. Previous studies have also not examined well-being resources nor found significant concerns with perceived stress levels in residency. The goal of "The Happy Docs Study" was to increase knowledge of current stressors affecting the health of residents and to gather information regarding the well-being resources available to them.FindingsA questionnaire was distributed to all residents attending all medical schools in Canada outside of Quebec through the Canadian Association of Internes and Residents (CAIR) during the 2004–2005 academic years.In total 1999 resident physicians responded to the survey (35%, N = 5784 residents). One third of residents reported their life as "quite a bit" to "extremely" stressful (33%, N = 656). Time pressure was the most significant factor associated with stress (49%, N = 978). Intimidation and harassment was experienced by more than half of all residents (52%, N = 1050) with training status (30%, N = 599) and gender (18%, N = 364) being the main perceived sources. Eighteen percent of residents (N = 356) reported their mental health as either "fair" or "poor". The top two resources that residents wished to have available were career counseling (39%, N = 777) and financial counseling (37%, N = 741).ConclusionAlthough many Canadian resident physicians have a positive outlook on their well-being, residents experience significant stressors during their training and a significant portion are at risk for emotional and mental health problems. This study can serve as a basis for future research, advocacy and resource application for overall improvements to well-being during residency.

Predictors of Well-Being in Resident Physicians: A Descriptive and Psychometric Study

“…[22][23][24][25] Being a female resident, however, may be more difficult given family roles, ability to deal with stress, and cultural factors. In contrast, a study of internal medicine residents demonstrated persistent burnout was more prevalent in male residents.…”

Well-Being in Residency: A Systematic Review

“…[12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Comparing data that Beckman et al 19 collected from 202 (63%) internal medicine residents, post hoc analysis of the SF-8 mental health subscore for residents shows lower well-being scores (mean scores 46.57 versus 50.5, respectively, P , .0001) than a similarly aged population norm. 19,20 A large sample of Canadian residents self-rated their mental health lower than the Canadian population norm, 16 and the mean perceived stress level in a large survey of family medicine interns was above population norms. 17 Effect sizes are small and given the variety of wellbeing measures used across studies, no quantitative aggregate conclusions can be drawn.…”

“…22 Being in a relationship was studied and found associated with greater well-being. 16,17 In a survey of residents across 11 specialties, sexual functioning was associated with overall quality of life, and sexual dysfunction (a score less than 23 on the male and female sexual function inventories) was found to affect 49% of women and 11% of men. High stress was associated with sexual dissatisfaction (a subset measure on the male and female sexual function inventories), and male residents working over 70 hours per week were 4 times as likely to have sexual dissatisfaction (P , .001; adjusted OR ¼ 4.35; 95% CI 1.83-11.6).…”

Prevalence of Burnout among Doctors in Teaching Hospitals in Galle Sri Lanka

“…Among residents, 50% and 76% of surgical and internal medicine residents are affected, respectively (8). Cohen et al found that at least one-third of Canadian medical residents from different specialties experience a stressful life (9). On the contrary, Lagasse et al report that 12.5% of medical residents scored positively on the three dimensions altogether (10).…”