Abstract
Objectives
Resident burnout is heterogeneous across specialties. This scoping review explores burnout factors within surgical and non-surgical specialties and how unique challenges within each discipline contribute to burnout.
Methods
A literature search was conducted on OVID Medline and 4 other databases with terms in: 1. residency, 2. burnout, 3. factors, and 4. burnout assessment measures. Original English articles published in North America were included. A frequency is calculated for each factor reported to have a statistically significant association with burnout within the surgical residency category and non-surgical residency category.
Results
There were 46, 50, and 1 study in surgical specialties, non-surgical specialties, and both, respectively. Sixty-five burnout factors were identified. The top personal factors were gender, mindset/mentality, and having a partner/children for both disciplines. The top program-related factors for both disciplines were training stage and workload, and mentorship for surgical specialties and work-life balance for non-surgical specialties. The top external factors for both disciplines were workplace relations, rotations, and co-resident support. The top two institutional factors were autonomy and administrative tasks for surgical specialties, and vice versa for non-surgical specialties.
Conclusion
Common burnout factors suggest ubiquitous challenges in residency. The differences in the burnout experience are driven by innate personal differences, medical culture, and hidden curriculum. Implementation of protective strategies would require thorough consideration of such similarities and differences and control for balancing factors to maintain the quality of education and patient care.