Update on the Personal and Professional Well-Being of Surgical Residents in New England

Surgical culture has shifted to recognize the importance of resident well-being. This is the first study to longitudinally track regional surgical resident well-being over 5 years.

An anonymous cross-sectional, multi-institutional survey of New England general surgery residents using novel and published instruments to create three domains: health maintenance, burnout, and work environment.

Overall, 75% (15 of 20) of programs participated. The response rate was 44% (250 of 570), and 53% (133 of 250) were women, 94% (234 of 250) were 25 to 34 years old, and 71% (178 of 250) were in a relationship. For health maintenance, 57% (143 of 250) reported having a primary care provider, 26% (64 of 250) had not seen a primary care provider in 2 years, and 59% (147 of 250) endorsed being up to date with age-appropriate health screening, but only 44% (109 of 250) were found to actually be up to date. Only 14% (35 of 250) reported exercising more than 150 minutes/week. The burnout rate was 19% (47 of 250), with 32% (81 of 250) and 25% (63 of 250) reporting high levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, respectively. For program directors and attendings, 90% of residents reported that they cared about resident well-being. Eighty-seven percent of residents believed that it was acceptable to take time off during the workday for a personal appointment, but only 49% reported that they would personally take the time.

The personal health maintenance of general surgery residents has changed little over the past five years, despite an overwhelming majority of residents reporting that attendings and program directors care about their well-being. Further study is needed to understand the barriers to improvement of resident wellbeing.