Work-Life Balance: A Different Scale for Doctors

What Matters Most: Determinants Associated with the Selection of Medical Residencies in Qatar

Purpose

There have been several studies into medical student career decision making in occidental countries (eg US, UK), but medical career selection in a Middle Eastern context has not been as well studied. This study aims to explore determinants underpinning medical students' residency choice in Qatar.

Patients and methods

During the Fall semester of the 2022-2023 academic year, all (n=358) medical students from the College of Medicine at Qatar University were invited to participate in an online explorative questionnaire about students' career choices and the factors determining their selection.

Results

Of the 358 students, 184 responded (51%). Respondents had a mean age of 20 years; the majority were female (73.9%), Qatari (54.3%), unmarried (97.3%), and enrolled in a pre-clerkship year (55.0%). The most important career determinant was specialty-specific factors. The relative importance of other determinants differed by gender and stage of training. Among our respondents, male students were more likely to rate role models and influencers as being important to their choice, while female students and Qatari students overall were more likely to cite societal obligation. Medical students in Qatar seemed to have career preferences in mind upon entry into medical education. Later-year students were more likely to identify the importance of work-life balance and place of practice, but were less likely to rank prestige and income as an important determinant.

Conclusion

The results of this baseline study suggest that socioeconomic and cultural context influence medical student career decisions.

Work-Family Conflict and Suicidal Ideation Among Physicians of Pakistan: The Moderating Role of Perceived Life Satisfaction

Recent studies have shown an increased level of suicidal behavior among physicians, not only in Pakistan but all over the world. In this cross-sectional study, 622 physicians, aged 32–55 years, participated from 50 private and public hospitals located in the seven cities of the Punjab province of Pakistan. Three standardized tools were used to assess suicidal ideation, perceived life satisfaction and work-family conflict of the participants. Results showed work-family conflict as positive whereas life satisfaction was shown to be a negative predictor of suicidal ideation among the physicians. Furthermore, findings suggested that, as a moderator, percieved life satisfaction holds a significant role in decreasing the levels of work-family conflict and suicidal ideation among the physicians. Therefore, it is recommendable to incoroporate a perceived life satisfaction enhancement program into the training of physicians so that suicidal ideation may be prevented and treated effectively.

Strategies for mitigating burnout among early career doctors in Nigeria: lessons learnt from the qualitative CHARTING study

Background

Early career doctors (ECDs) are faced with many challenges due to their transition from undergraduate medical/dental studentship to being postgraduate doctors and being in an early phase of their career. The specific factors that affect ECDs in their careers and endeavors at the workplace range from poor remuneration, particularly in developing countries, to psychosocial problems (such as burnout [BO] syndrome). There is a dearth of information on BO among ECDs in Nigeria. This qualitative study aims to explore the opinions of ECDs in Nigeria on the causal/predisposing factors of BO, effects of BO, and strategies for mitigating BO among ECDs in Nigeria.

Method

Using purposive sampling method, two sessions of focus group discussions (FGDs) involving 14 ECDs (key informants) holding key leadership positions and who were delegates of other ECDs in Nigeria were conducted to explore their experiences on psychological issues among ECDs. Data collected were transcribed and analyzed thematically.

Results

BO is an issue of serious concern among ECDs in Nigeria. The causes of BO are diverse, some of which include low staff strength, prolonged work hours, wrong counseling, lack of job description and specification, and abuse of powers by trainers. In order to mitigate the issue of BO among ECDs, the respondents recommended that work policy review, medical workforce strengthening, stakeholder dialog on ECDs’ welfare, regular psychological review of ECDs, and provision of free yearly medicals need to be looked into. Conclusion: Our findings revealed that the participants considered BO issues among ECDs to be common, and it affected their performance and the overall quality of care in Nigeria health system. Based on our findings, there is an urgent need to mitigate the problem of emotional exhaustion among ECDs in Nigeria.

Work-Life Integration and Time Management Strategies

When choosing a career as a surgeon, we knowingly dedicate ourselves to a lifetime of service and education. Our commitment as physicians is but one of many commitments in the larger scheme of life where we function as family members, friends, athletes, and numerous other roles. Work and life are often described as two separate entities diametrically opposed to each other. In reality, personal and professional goals are part of a continuum where work is a major part of our lives and who we are as people and is not necessarily separate from the others. The goal-directed nature with which we approach our responsibilities as surgeons should be applied to all domains of life. As we progress along the training paradigm from intern to attending, control over time allocation increases. Understanding oneself, determining priorities, applying realistic expectations, cultivating a supportive environment, setting personal and professional goals, and being held accountable for progress and completion of these goals will allow us to utilize limited time efficiently to achieve what we individually desire from life.

Reexamining the Call of Duty: Teaching Boundaries in Medical School

Although healthy physician-patient boundaries are essential to medical practice, published research on how to teach this important topic to medical students is lacking. Physician-patient boundaries, the interpersonal limits placed on behavior within a clinical relationship, protect providers and patients alike, and they represent a key component of professionalism. However, these boundaries may be difficult to teach and frequently are not presented as part of the formal curriculum, except in communication-focused specialties such as psychiatry and palliative care. Medical students may be particularly susceptible to boundary concerns due to the inherent ambiguities of their role within the medical team. In this Perspective, the authors present the adapted, anonymized case of a medical student who encountered a boundary issue during a clinical rotation. Following a brief review of the limited published literature regarding the teaching of boundaries during medical school, the authors define key concepts, including the clinical frame, boundary crossings and violations, fiduciary duty, and dual relationships. Next, they provide examples of common boundary challenges that arise during the course of undergraduate medical education and later during clinical practice. The authors present factors that may contribute to boundary concerns, including characteristics of providers and patients, and they describe some of the potential consequences of boundary violations. They propose a curriculum for teaching medical students about boundaries, providing concrete suggestions for how to do so at both the preclinical and clinical levels. Before closing, they apply insights from the Perspective to the example case.

U.S. Physician-Scientist Workforce in the 21st Century: Recommendations to Attract and Sustain the Pipeline

The U.S. physician-scientist (PS) workforce is invaluable to the nation's biomedical research effort. It is through biomedical research that certain diseases have been eliminated, cures for others have been discovered, and medical procedures and therapies that save lives have been developed. Yet, the U.S. PS workforce has both declined and aged over the last several years. The resulting decreased inflow and outflow to the PS pipeline renders the system vulnerable to collapsing suddenly as the senior workforce retires. In November 2015, the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine hosted a consensus conference on the PS workforce to address issues impacting academic medical schools, with input from early-career PSs based on their individual experiences and concerns. One of the goals of the conference was to identify current impediments in attracting and supporting PSs and to develop a new set of recommendations for sustaining the PS workforce in 2016 and beyond. This Perspective reports on the opportunities and factors identified at the conference and presents five recommendations designed to increase entry into the PS pipeline and nine recommendations designed to decrease attrition from the PS workflow.