The Stigma of Burnout Impeding Formal Help: A Qualitative Study Exploring Residents’ Experiences During Training

Abstract

Purpose

Burnout is an occupational stress syndrome that gives rise to emotional exhaustion (EE) depersonalization (DP) and reduced personal accomplishment (PA). Increasing rates of burnout among health care professionals has been reported globally. Saudi Arabia appears to be among the highest in prevalence with reports of higher than 70%. Medical residents in training are the highest group at risk. The literature has repeatedly linked burnout among residents with poor academic performance on training exams, impaired quality of life, career choice regret and intentions to abandon medicine. In this study, we explore the factors that contribute to resident burnout, their experiences with burnout and how they choose to mitigate it.

Methods

A qualitative design was used to conduct this study in the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A total of 14 residents from surgical and non-surgical programs were interviewed through in-depth interviews. Interpretive thematic analysis was used in coding and generated coding templates. Categories were repetitively reviewed and revised, expanding to include new data as it emerged and collapsing to remove redundant codes. Categories were organized into the final themes and sub-themes.

Results

All participants demonstrated a shared thread of shame in reaching the level of burnout. Three main interlinked themes were identified: Burnout stigma cycle, amalgamated causes of burnout and self-coping with burnout. One of the concerning findings in our study is the participants’ pursuit of self-coping strategies and the avoidance of formal help, creating a cycle of suffering in silence.

Conclusion

The literature has repeatedly reported high levels of burnout among residents in training. This study has added another dimension to those findings through the exploration of residents actual accounts and appears to link burnout with suboptimal training and working conditions. We have highlighted the pivotal role stigma and shame play in completely preventing residents from seeking professional help.

Keywords:

• resident training
• burnout
• stigma
• self-coping

Ethics Approval and Informed Consent

Ethical approval was obtained through the King Saud University Institutional Review Board (IRB) number (KSU-IRB017E). Study participants have given written consent to participate in this study as well as publish data prior to the commencement of the interviews. All identifiers from quotes have been removed to maintain participant confidentiality.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank King Saud University and Medical city for permitting the use of its facilities for the purpose of conducting the interviews.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Additional information

Funding

There was no funding associated with this study.