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Multicenter Study
. 2019 May;24(2):317-330.
doi: 10.1007/s10459-018-9868-4. Epub 2018 Dec 5.

Learning climate positively influences residents' work-related well-being

Lenny S S Lases  1   2 , Onyebuchi A Arah  3 , Olivier R C Busch  4 , Maas Jan Heineman  5   6 , Kiki M J M H Lombarts  5
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Learning climate positively influences residents' work-related well-being

Lenny S S Lases et al. Adv Health Sci Educ Theory Pract. 2019 May.

Abstract

An optimal learning climate is crucial for the quality of residency training and may also improve residents' well-being and empathy. We investigated the associations of learning climate with residents' work-related well-being. A multicenter questionnaire study was performed among 271 surgery and gynaecology residents in 21 training programs from September 2012 to February 2013. Residents were asked to complete work-related well-being measurements: work engagement (Utrecht Work Engagement Scale), job and specialty satisfaction (measures from Physician Worklife Study), and physician empathy (Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy). The Dutch Residency Educational Climate Test was used to evaluate learning climate. Multivariate adjusted linear regression analyses were used to estimate associations of learning climate with work-related well-being measures. Well-being measures were completed by 144 residents (53.1%). Learning climate was evaluated by 193 residents, yielding 9.2 evaluations per training program on average. Overall learning climate score was positively associated with work engagement [regression coefficient b = 0.58; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.18-0.98; p = 0.004] and job satisfaction (b = 0.80; 95% CI 0.48-1.13; p < 0.001). No associations were found between learning climate and empathy and specialty satisfaction. Residents' work engagement and job satisfaction are positively related to the learning climate and may be further enhanced by improved learning climates of training programs.

Keywords: Job satisfaction; Learning climate; Residency training; Residents’ well-being; Work-engagement.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. This study is part of the research project “Quality of clinical teachers and residency training programs”, which is co-financed by the Dutch Ministry of Health; the Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam; and the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences of the University of Maastricht. The funders had no role in study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretations, decision to publish, or writing the report.

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