Physician Well-being Resources

1. National Initiatives

  • ABMS Call for Physician Well-Being CME Activities

    The CME/CPD Community is invited to submit accredited CME activities that address physician wellness and burn-out. View the ABMS Call for Physician Well-Being CME Activities[PDF].

  • National Academy of Medicine Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-Being and Resilience

    Type: National Initiative

    In 2017, the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) launched the Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-Being and Resilience, a network of more than 60 organizations committed to reversing trends in clinician burnout. The Collaborative has three goals:

    • Improve baseline understanding of challenges to clinician well-being;
    • Raise the visibility of clinician stress and burnout; and
    • Elevate evidence-based, multidisciplinary solutions that will improve patient care by caring for the caregiver

    View the NAM Clinician Well-being Knowledge Hub

2. Assessment Tools

  • Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI)

    Type: Assessment Tool

    The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) is validated by the extensive research that has been conducted in the more than 35 years since its initial publication. MBI-Human Services Survey for Medical Personnel (MBI-HSS (MP)) is derived from the Human Services Survey specifically for Medical Personnel. The MBI-HSS (MP) addresses three scales:

    • Emotional Exhaustion measures feelings of being emotionally overextended and exhausted by one’s work.
    • Depersonalization measures an unfeeling and impersonal response toward patients.
    • Personal Accomplishment measures feelings of competence and successful achievement in one’s work.

    Authors: Christina Maslach and Susan E. Jackson
    Source: Mindgarden

    Go to Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI)

  • Stanford Medicine WellMD

    Type: Assessment Tool

    “Doctors who take care of themselves are better role models for their patients, better role models for their children, have higher patient satisfaction and safety scores, experience less stress and burnout, and live longer. Use this Web site to find what works for you.”

    Visit Stanford Medicine WellMD.

  • Well-Being Index (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)

    Type: Assessment Tool

    The Well-Being Index is a 100% anonymous, web-based tool used to evaluate multiple dimensions of distress in just nine questions. It’s designed to measure burnout, provide valuable resources, and allow users to compare their scores to their peers as well as track progress over time to promote self-awareness. Physicians can reassess their well-being monthly to see how it changes over time.

    The nine-question validated survey instrument measures physicians’ perceptions of their lives and their daily experiences through five interrelated elements that make up well-being: sense of purpose, social relationships, financial security, relationship to community, and physical health.

    Go to the Well-Being Index (Invitation Code: ABMS DIPLOMATE)

3. Peer-reviewed Literature

  • Care-Centered Clinical Documentation in the Digital Environment …

    Care-Centered Clinical Documentation in the Digital Environment: Solutions to Alleviate Burnout

    Type: Peer-reviewed Literature

    Introduction: A range of factors drives clinician burnout, including workload, time pressure, clerical burden, and professional isolation. Clerical burden, especially documentation of care and order entry, is a major driver of clinician burnout. Recent studies have shown that physicians spend as much as 50 percent of their time completing clinical documentation …

    Authors: Alexander K. Ommaya, Pamela F. Cipriano, David B. Hoyt, Keith A Horvath, Paul Tang, Harold L. Paz, Mark S. DeFrancesco, Susan T. Hingle, Sam Butler, and Christine A. Sinsky

    Read the Article: Care-Centered Clinical Documentation in the Digital Environment: Solutions to Alleviate Burnout

  • Culture of Wellness

    Executive Leadership and Physician Well-Being: Nine Organizational Strategies to Promote Engagement and Reduce Burnout

    Type: Peer-reviewed Literature

    Abstract: These are challenging times for health care executives. The health care field is experiencing unprecedented changes that threaten the survival of many health care organizations. To successfully navigate these challenges, health care executives need committed and productive physicians working in collaboration with organization leaders. Unfortunately, national studies suggest that at least 50% of US physicians are experiencing professional burnout, indicating that most executives face this challenge with a disillusioned physician workforce. …

    Authors: Tait D. Shanafelt, MD, and John H. Noseworthy, MD, CEO
    Source:  Mayo Clinic Proceedings January 2017;92(1):129-146

    Read the article: Executive Leadership and Physician Well-Being: Nine Organizational Strategies to Promote Engagement and Reduce Burnout

  • Personal Resilience

    Ability of Physician Well-being Index (PWBI) to Identify Residents in Distress

    Type: Peer-reviewed Literature

    This study in the Journal of Graduate Medical Education sought to evaluate the ability of the Physician Well-Being Index (PWBI), a 7-item screening index, to identify residents in distress. Researchers used a cross-sectional anonymous email survey to assess evidence of relationship between the PWBI score to other variables measuring distress. The researchers also and evaluated the performance of the index after substituting the original fatigue item with an item not associated with driving a car. Results indicated that the 7-item PWBI appears to be a useful screening index to identify residents whose degree of distress may negatively impact the quality of care they deliver.

    Authors: Liselotte N. Dyrbye, MD, MHPEDaniel Satele, BAJeff Sloan, PhDTait D. Shanafelt, MD
    Source:  Journal of Graduate Medical Education

    Online publication date: 12-Apr-2018.

    Read the article: Ability of Physician Well-being Index (PWBI) to Identify Residents in Distress

4. Articles and Papers

  • New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) Catalyst

    Physician Well-Being: The Reciprocity of Practice Efficiency, Culture of Wellness, and Resilience

    Type: Articles and Papers

    Health care delivery is undergoing a major transformation around quality, cost, and access. NEJM Catalyst brings health care executives, clinical leaders, and clinicians together to share innovative ideas and practical applications for enhancing the value of health care delivery.

    Authors: Bryan Bohman, MD, Liselotte Dyrbye, MD, MHPE, Christine A. Sinsky, MD, Mark Linzer, MD, FACP, Kristine Olson, MD, MSc, Stewart Babbott, MD, Mary Lou Murphy, MS, Patty Purpur deVries, MS, Maryam S. Hamidi, PhD & Mickey Trockel, MD, PhD
    Source: New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) Catalyst

    Read the article: Physician Well-Being: The Reciprocity of Practice Efficiency, Culture of Wellness, and Resilience

  • Physician Burnout in America: A Roadmap for Restoring Joy and Purpose to Medicine

    Physician Burnout in America: A Roadmap for Restoring Joy and Purpose to Medicine

    Type: Articles and Papers

    This report is the product of a two-day convening of rural, suburban, urban and military health system professionals, primary- and specialty-care providers, and think tank and education leaders, who came together to develop a deep understanding of physician burnout and its solutions. Factors contributing to caregiver burnout were explored at the macro, micro and individual caregiver levels.

    The report outlines a path that begins a journey to restore essential humanity to care and make the patient and provider experience the very best that they can be.

    Author: Cindy Richards

    Read the Article: Physician Burnout in America: A Roadmap for Restoring Joy and Purpose to Medicine[PDF]