Family Physician Burnout and Resilience: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Current physician burnout levels are at historically high levels, especially in family medicine, with many factors playing a role. The goal of this study was to understand demographic, psychological, environmental, behavioral, and workplace characteristics that impact physician wellness and burnout, focusing on family medicine physicians and residents.

Survey respondents were 295 family medicine residents and faculty members across 11 residency programs within the Residency Research Network of Texas (RRNeT). Subjects completed multiple measures to assess resilience, burnout, psychological flexibility, and workplace stress. Respondents also reported personal wellness practices and demographic information. The primary outcome variables were burnout (depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, and personal achievement) and resilience.

The predictor variables contributed significant variance (depersonalization=27.1%, emotional exhaustion=39%, accomplishment=37.7%, resilience=37%) and resulted in large effect sizes (depersonalization f²=.371, emotional exhaustion f²=.639, accomplishment f²=.605, resilience f²=.587) among the three burnout models and the resilience model for the sample. Similar variance and effect sizes were present for independent resident and program faculty samples, with resilience being the only outcome variable with significant differences in variance between the samples.

This study demonstrates the roles of both individual and organization change needed to impact provider wellness, with special attention to resilience across faculty and residents. The results of this study may inform workplace policies (ie, organizational practice change) and wellness programming and curricula (ie, individual level) for family medicine residents and program faculty.