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Tool for Predicting Medical Student Burnout From Sustained Stress Levels

  • Mark C. Kendall and Lucas J. Castro-Alves
Published/Copyright: June 1, 2018
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Journal of Osteopathic Medicine
From the journal Journal of Osteopathic Medicine Volume 118 Issue 6

To the Editor:

We read with great interest the article by Johnson et al1 in the March 2018 issue of The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association. The authors performed an observational study to examine the factors of the Medical Education Hassles Scale-R to identify subscales that would be useful to categorize hassles for research and assessment purposes. They identified 7 subscales: (1) Academic and Time Pressures, (2) Financial, (3) Social, (4) External Influences, (5) Day-to-Day Functioning, (6) Relationships With Immediate Family, and (7) Health. The authors should be congratulated for performing a well-designed study on an important topic (ie, well-being) in graduate medical education and physician practice.2,3 The need to identify specific areas for intervention is an innovative concept that has not been appropriately explored.4,5

Although the study1 was well conducted, some elements of the study need to be clarified by the authors. First, the assessment instrument used 101 individual questions, which represents a long length of participation that can induce response fatigue in participants. Current instruments evaluating burnout have been validated using only 2 questions.6 Second, the authors did not examine the degree to which program leadership contributes to burnout. It is possible that program leadership wellness and support can be protective to student burnout. Third, other factors leading to trainees’ burnout (eg, working hours, control over professional life) may also have affected the study results and need to be further explored.

We would welcome some comments from Johnson et al1 to address these issues and thus further substantiate the findings of this important study.

Department of Anesthesiology, Rhode Island Hospital, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence

References

1. Johnson JC , DegenhardtBF, SmithCK, WolfTM, PetersonDF. Tool for predicting medical student burnout from sustained stress levels: factor analysis of the Medical Education Hassles Scale-R. J Am Osteopath Assoc. 2018;118(3):170-180. doi:10.7556/jaoa.2018.036Search in Google Scholar PubMed

2. De Oliveira GS Jr . Biological evidence of the impact of burnout on the health of anesthesiologists. J Clin Anesth. 2017;41:62. doi:10.1016/j.jclinane.2017.06.011Search in Google Scholar PubMed

3. Chan AM , CuevasST, JenkinsJII. Burnout among osteopathic residents: a cross-sectional analysis. J Am Osteopath Assoc. 2016;116(2):100-105. doi:10.7556/jaoa.2016.023Search in Google Scholar PubMed

4. Vinson AE , ZurakowskiD, RandelGI, SchlechtKD. National survey of US academic anesthesiology chairs on clinician wellness. J Clin Anesth. 2016;34:623-631. doi:10.1016/j.jclinane.2016.06.015Search in Google Scholar PubMed

5. Gonzalez LS , DonnellyMJ. A survey of residency program directors in anesthesiology regarding mentorship of residents. J Clin Anesth. 2016;33:254-265. doi:10.1016/j.jclinane.2016.03.004Search in Google Scholar PubMed

6. West CP , DyrbyeLN, SloanJA, ShanafeltTD. Single item measures of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization are useful for assessing burnout in medical professionals. J Gen Intern Med. 2009;24(12):1318-1321. doi:10.1007/s11606-009-1129-zSearch in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central

Published Online: 2018-06-01
Published in Print: 2018-06-01

© 2018 American Osteopathic Association

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Articles in the same Issue

  1. SPECIAL COMMUNICATION
  2. Insights on the Nationwide Project in Osteopathic Medical Education and Empathy (POMEE)
  3. SURF
  4. Perceptions of and Attitudes Toward Diabetes Among Chinese Americans
  5. OMT MINUTE
  6. Osteopathic Cranial Manipulative Medicine in the Setting of Concussion
  7. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
  8. Patient Engagement in Coauthored Medical Records
  9. Response
  10. Tool for Predicting Medical Student Burnout From Sustained Stress Levels
  11. Response
  12. AOA COMMUNICATION (REPRINT)
  13. Official Call: 2018 Annual Business Meeting of the American Osteopathic Association
  14. AOA COMMUNICATION
  15. Proposed Amendments to the AOA Constitution, Bylaws, and Code of Ethics
  16. ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION
  17. Reducing Health Disparities: Understanding the Unintended Effects of Health Care Professional and Patient Characteristics on Treatment
  18. Practice Area Intentions of Graduates of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine: What Role Does Debt Play?
  19. BRIEF REPORT
  20. First-Year Osteopathic Medical Students’ Knowledge of and Attitudes Toward Physical Activity
  21. Osteopathic Manipulative Therapy Potentiates Motor Cortical Plasticity
  22. Safety of Osteopathic Cranial Manipulative Medicine as an Adjunct to Conventional Postconcussion Symptom Management: A Pilot Study
  23. JAOA/AACOM MEDICAL EDUCATION
  24. Use of a Clinical Pathologic Conference to Demonstrate Residents’ ACGME Emergency Medicine Milestones, Aid in Faculty Development, and Increase Academic Output
  25. CASE REPORT
  26. Primary Lung Signet Ring Cell Carcinoma Presenting as a Cavitary Pancoast Tumor in a 32-Year-Old Man
  27. CLINICAL IMAGES
  28. Constrictive Pericarditis
  29. IN YOUR WORDS
  30. Anastamosis
https://doi.org/10.7556/jaoa.2018.079
Creative Commons
BY-NC-ND 4.0

Articles in the same Issue

  1. SPECIAL COMMUNICATION
  2. Insights on the Nationwide Project in Osteopathic Medical Education and Empathy (POMEE)
  3. SURF
  4. Perceptions of and Attitudes Toward Diabetes Among Chinese Americans
  5. OMT MINUTE
  6. Osteopathic Cranial Manipulative Medicine in the Setting of Concussion
  7. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
  8. Patient Engagement in Coauthored Medical Records
  9. Response
  10. Tool for Predicting Medical Student Burnout From Sustained Stress Levels
  11. Response
  12. AOA COMMUNICATION (REPRINT)
  13. Official Call: 2018 Annual Business Meeting of the American Osteopathic Association
  14. AOA COMMUNICATION
  15. Proposed Amendments to the AOA Constitution, Bylaws, and Code of Ethics
  16. ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION
  17. Reducing Health Disparities: Understanding the Unintended Effects of Health Care Professional and Patient Characteristics on Treatment
  18. Practice Area Intentions of Graduates of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine: What Role Does Debt Play?
  19. BRIEF REPORT
  20. First-Year Osteopathic Medical Students’ Knowledge of and Attitudes Toward Physical Activity
  21. Osteopathic Manipulative Therapy Potentiates Motor Cortical Plasticity
  22. Safety of Osteopathic Cranial Manipulative Medicine as an Adjunct to Conventional Postconcussion Symptom Management: A Pilot Study
  23. JAOA/AACOM MEDICAL EDUCATION
  24. Use of a Clinical Pathologic Conference to Demonstrate Residents’ ACGME Emergency Medicine Milestones, Aid in Faculty Development, and Increase Academic Output
  25. CASE REPORT
  26. Primary Lung Signet Ring Cell Carcinoma Presenting as a Cavitary Pancoast Tumor in a 32-Year-Old Man
  27. CLINICAL IMAGES
  28. Constrictive Pericarditis
  29. IN YOUR WORDS
  30. Anastamosis
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