Program and Institutional Coordinator Well-Being: Results From a National Survey

This study explores the mental health and well-being, overall job satisfaction, likelihood to leave position, and perceptions of job satisfiers and stressors and dissatisfiers in a national sample of program and institutional coordinators in graduate medical education (GME).

Between August and September 2022, 11,887 program and institutional coordinators and managers with email addresses listed in the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education database were emailed a survey link. The survey queried mental health using the Patient Health Questionnaire 8 depression scale, Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7, and a 2-item burnout scale derived from the Maslach Burnout Inventory; overall satisfaction with work; likelihood to leave work; and drivers of satisfaction and dissatisfaction.

A total of 6,372 coordinators and managers responded to the survey, with 1,367 (23.9%) reporting moderate to severe depression symptoms on the Patient Health Questionnaire 8 and 1,767 (30.4%) reporting moderate to severe anxiety symptoms on the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7. A total of 2,183 respondents (38.4%) screened positive for burnout, 1,288 (20.4%) reported being dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with work, and 1,510 (27.9%) reported being likely or very likely to leave their job in the next year. Positive interactions with administrative staff, residents, fellows, faculty, and program leadership were the highest ranked drivers of job satisfaction. Tracking down residents, fellows, and faculty to complete required tasks, low pay, overall workload, level of detail to manage, time pressure, lack of appreciation by faculty, and sense of entitlement of residents were leading job dissatisfaction drivers.

Coordinators are vitally important members of the GME community who play critical roles in supporting the GME enterprise. This study aims to raise awareness of the challenges and struggles faced by coordinators to lead to improvements in their job satisfaction, mental health, and well-being.