Do incoming residents vary in measures of emotional status even prior to residency training?

Authors

Jeanne L. Jacoby MD, Lehigh Valley Health NetworkFollow
Amy B. Smith PhD, Lehigh Valley Health NetworkFollow
Robert D. Barraco MD, MPH, Lehigh Valley Health NetworkFollow
Marna R. Greenberg DO, MPH, FACEP, Lehigh Valley Health NetworkFollow
Elaine A. Donoghue MD, Lehigh Valley Health NetworkFollow
Bryan G. Kane MD, Lehigh Valley Health NetworkFollow
Jennifer Macfarlan, Lehigh Valley Health NetworkFollow
Lauren Crowley BA, Lehigh Valley Health NetworkFollow
Kevin Weaver D.O.,FACOEP, Lehigh Valley Health NetworkFollow
Joann Farrell Quinn, University of South Florida

Publication/Presentation Date

7-29-2022

Abstract

Objectives: To determine whether Empathy, Emotional Intelligence, and Burnout scores differ by specialty in incoming residents.

Methods: This is a single-site, prospective, cross-sectional study. Three validated survey instruments, the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy, Maslach Burnout Inventory, and Emotional and Social Competency Inventory, were written into a survey platform as a single 125-question Qualtrics survey. Over three academic years, 2015-2017, 229 incoming residents across all specialties were emailed the survey link during orientation. Residents were grouped by incoming specialty with anonymity assured. A total of 229 responses were included, with 121 (52.8%) identifying as female. Statistical analysis was performed using the Analysis of Variance or Kruskal-Wallis test, Chi-Square or Fisher's Exact test, and Independent Samples t-test or Mann Whitney U test. A Bonferroni correction was applied for pairwise comparisons.

Results: Family Medicine had a higher median Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy score (127) compared to Emergency Medicine (115), (U=767.7, p=0.0330). Maslach Burnout Inventory depersonalization and personal accomplishment subcategory scores showed a significant difference between specialties when omnibus tests were performed, but pairwise comparisons with emergency medicine residents showed no differences. Differences were found in the Maslach Burnout Inventory categories of Depersonalization (χ

Conclusions: Differences in measures of well-being exist across specialties, even prior to the start of residency training. The implication for educators of residency training is that some incoming residents, regardless of specialty, already exhibit troublesome features of burnout, and resources to effectively deal with these residents should be developed and utilized.

Volume

13

First Page

198

Last Page

204

ISSN

2042-6372

Published In/Presented At

Jacoby JL, Smith AB, Barraco RD, Greenberg MR, Donoghue EA, Kane BG, Macfarlan JE, Crowley LM, Weaver KR, Quinn JF. Do incoming residents vary in measures of emotional status even prior to residency training? Int J Med Educ. 2022 Jul 29;13:198-204. doi: 10.5116/ijme.62cb.f308.

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences

PubMedID

35916647

Department(s)

Department of Education, Department of Emergency Medicine, Network Office of Research and Innovation

Document Type

Article