What happy physicians have in common: A qualitative study of workplace perceptions of physicians with low burnout scores

Abstract

Introduction: Burnout is a phenomenon in the medical field that adversely affects patient care, physician retention, and physician well-being. The preponderance of burnout research has primarily focused on exploring what parts of medical practice and individual characteristics contribute to burnout. Our research aims to add to the growing body of evidence exploring what physicians who love their work have in common. Methods: Physician participants in this qualitative study were recruited through their local medical society from those who indicated a willingness to share tips for joy in practice. Potential participants were then screened for low probability of burnout using a validated single-item burnout inventory. Nine primarily mid- to late-career physicians engaged in semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis was used to analyze data. Of the interviewed physicians, five were practicing in the primary care specialties of family or internal medicine and four in specialties outside of primary care. Results: Six major themes arose from the nine interviews and included variety in work, a sense of empowerment, connection with patients, visible impact of one’s work, feelings of community with coworkers and colleagues, and experiencing a sense of calling. Conclusion: While further research is needed to demonstrate the transferability of the themes from these interviews, an asset-rooted approach to physician wellness is a direction for research and intervention that deserves further attention. Focusing only on alleviating the factors that contribute to burnout is a worthy goal, but ignores the necessity of designing training systems and workplaces that are built to foster the elements of medicine that bring joy and fulfillment to practice.

Assessing mid-career female physician burnout in the military health system: finding joy in practice after the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Our participants placed importance on camaraderie and teamwork in the workplace with many stating that the best part of their day was interactions with colleagues. This corresponds with a study showing sense of community to be an anchoring factor for joy in work [ 16 ]. However, participants also discussed lack of participatory management from leadership which demonstrates lack of teamwork on the part of leadership.…”

“Knowing how to play the game”: Clinician experiences of treating patients with a compensable injury in Australia

“…[33] Indeed, Woodward and colleagues found that physicians who reported low levels of professional burnout commonly reported feeling connected to patients (i.e., empathy) and making a habit of doing things to be helpful or useful for patients and colleagues. [34] Hence, together with this previous research, the present study ndings suggest that clinicians should be encouraged to cultivate and maintain empathy for and interest in the wellbeing of their patients, for it is these feelings of connection to others that provide motivation and energy to continue providing high-quality care to patients, and support to case managers. An alternative explanation for this nding may be that the sorts of clinicians who have high levels of empathy are more likely to be attracted to working in this clinical setting.…”

Specialty Satisfaction of Senior Specialists of a Tertiary Level Medical Teaching Institution

“…According to the study of Rivers Woodward a sense of empowerment, variety in work, connection with patients, visible impact of one's work, feelings of community with coworkers and colleagues, and experiencing a sense of calling are the important variables of specialty satisfaction. 11 Calling vocational and Spirituality, impact community and patient's lives and connection with patients are the peak causes of satisfaction. In one report it was found that burnout in specialist physicians have increased to more than 50% in some cases in comparison to 23% in other full time professionals.…”