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Developing institutional infrastructure for physician wellness: qualitative Insights from VA physicians
Rachel Schwartz1,2, Tait D Shanafelt3, Christophe Gimmler4,5
1VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Center for Innovation to Implementation (Ci2i), 795 Willow Road, 152-MPD, Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA. raschwartz@stanford.edu.
BMC Health Services Research
|January 5, 2020
Summary
Physician burnout is addressed by a novel Balint-like support group. This program fostered resilience and provided coping strategies, reducing distress and isolation among physicians.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Psychiatry
- Health Services Research
Background:
- Physician burnout is a significant issue requiring innovative support strategies.
- A "Balint-like" physician support group was developed and assessed.
- The group aimed to enhance social cohesion and build resilience through didactic curricula.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and assess a "Balint-like" physician support group.
- To explore the intervention's value in addressing physician wellness needs.
- To identify institutional, community, and individual factors affecting physician wellness.
Main Methods:
- A nine-month facilitated peer-support group met bi-weekly.
- Tailored wellness curricula were developed based on initial group feedback.
- Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 9 physicians (7 hospitalists, 2 primary care).
- Inductive thematic analysis was used to identify wellness factors and intervention opportunities.
Main Results:
- Physicians identified systems-level factors contributing to distress.
- A need for forums to process emotional challenges and maintain wellness was highlighted.
- Balint-like groups normalized struggles, reduced isolation, and offered new coping strategies.
Conclusions:
- Regular, psychologically-safe peer forums can mitigate physician distress.
- Learning relational strategies supports physician wellness preservation.
- A low-cost, tailorable physician wellness program model was developed.
