Development and validation of a scaled questionnaire for evaluation of residency programs

Area of Science:

• Medical Education Research
• Psychological Assessment in Residency Training
• Primary Care Physician Training

Background:

• Residency programs face increasing pressure to enhance primary care training.
• Quantifying qualitative aspects of resident well-being and satisfaction is crucial for program improvement.
• Understanding stressors in internal medicine residency is vital for physician retention and quality of care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate scales for measuring emotional distress and satisfaction with workload and learning environment among internal medicine residents.
• To investigate the relationship between these scales and psychological well-being indicators.
• To identify program-specific factors influencing resident stress and satisfaction.

Main Methods:

• A questionnaire assessing residency stressors was administered to 238 internal medicine residents.
• The Profile of Mood States (POMS) was completed by 64 residents.
• Factor analysis was used to derive scales for emotional distress, workload satisfaction, and learning environment satisfaction.

Main Results:

• Emotional distress correlated positively with POMS scores (depression, dejection) and inversely with workload.
• Workload satisfaction was higher in programs with fewer admissions and lower with greater patient loads.
• University programs reported higher stress and lower workload satisfaction compared to community programs.

Conclusions:

• The study validates scales for quantifying resident emotional distress and satisfaction.
• Program characteristics, such as patient load and institutional type, significantly impact resident well-being.
• Findings provide actionable insights for optimizing residency training environments to reduce stress and improve satisfaction.