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. 2018 Apr;7(2):120-125.
doi: 10.1007/s40037-018-0405-1.

The learning environment and resident burnout: a national study

Stefan N van Vendeloo  1 , David J Prins  2 , Cees C P M Verheyen  3 , Jelle T Prins  4 , Fleur van den Heijkant  5 , Frank M M A van der Heijden  6 , Paul L P Brand  7   8
Affiliations

The learning environment and resident burnout: a national study

Stefan N van Vendeloo et al. Perspect Med Educ. 2018 Apr.

Abstract

Introduction: Concerns exist about the negative impact of burnout on the professional and personal lives of residents. It is suggested that the origins of burnout among residents are rooted in the learning environment. We aimed to evaluate the association between the learning environment and burnout in a national sample of Dutch residents.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional online survey among all Dutch residents in September 2015. We measured the learning environment using the three domain scores on content, organization, and atmosphere from the Scan of Postgraduate Educational Environment Domains (SPEED) and burnout using the Dutch version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (UBOS-C).

Results: Of 1,231 responding residents (33 specialties), 185 (15.0%) met criteria for burnout. After adjusting for demographic (age, gender and marital status) and work-related factors (year of training, type of teaching hospital and type of specialty), we found a consistent inverse association between SPEED scores and the risk of burnout (aOR 0.54, 95% CI 0.46 to 0.62, p < 0.001).

Discussion: We found a strong and consistent inverse association between the perceived quality of the learning environment and burnout among residents. This suggests that the learning environment is of key importance in preventing resident burnout.

Keywords: Burnout; Learning environment; Postgraduate medical education; Residency.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Mean SPEED (Scan of Postgraduate Educational Environment Domains) scores of residents with (n = 185) and without (n = 1,046) burnout. Horizontal bars represent mean values and T‑bars indicate 95% confidence intervals. The difference in SPEED score (0.71, 95% confidence interval for difference; 0.56–0.86) between both groups is significant (p < 0.001)
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