Burnout and quality of life of medical residents: a mixed-method study

PURPOSE: Currently there are a limited number of comprehensive studies exploring in more depth the relationship between burnout and quality of life (QoL) of medical residents during residency training. This study aims to examine the correlation between burnout and residents’ QoL and explore the factors associated with burnout in residency training. METHODS: This was a mixed-method study. The first stage was a quantitative study using cross-sectional design to administer the Maslach Burnout Inventory Human Service Survey and World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF instruments to 86 medical residents, followed with the qualitative study through 10 in-depth interviews. RESULTS: Twenty-seven residents (31.4%) experienced severe emotional exhaustion (EE), 22 (25.6%) experienced severe depersonalization (DP), and 40 (46,5%) experienced low personal accomplishment (PA). Factors increasing the likelihood of experiencing burnout were being surgical residents for EE (2.65 times), dealing with difficult/rare cases for DP (1.14 points), and working hours for PA (1.03 points). The QoL was influenced by the three burnout domains, marital status, education level, gender, age, type of residency, night shift, difficult/rare cases, working hours, and number of emergency cases. Factors influencing burnout, both intrinsic and extrinsic, were identified and divided into causative and protective factors. CONCLUSION: The current study has examined the relationship between burnout and QoL and identified factors affecting residents’ burnout. Both intrinsic factors, such as spirituality, and extrinsic factors which include duration of shift, work facilities, and teacher-senior-junior relationships, affect burnout. Supervision and academic regulation are some of the solutions expected by the residents to minimize burnout.