Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Oct 24;19(1):1363.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-019-7661-9.

A scoping review of the literature on the current mental health status of physicians and physicians-in-training in North America

Mara Mihailescu  1 , Elena Neiterman  2
Affiliations

A scoping review of the literature on the current mental health status of physicians and physicians-in-training in North America

Mara Mihailescu et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: This scoping review summarizes the existing literature regarding the mental health of physicians and physicians-in-training and explores what types of mental health concerns are discussed in the literature, what is their prevalence among physicians, what are the causes of mental health concerns in physicians, what effects mental health concerns have on physicians and their patients, what interventions can be used to address them, and what are the barriers to seeking and providing care for physicians. This review aims to improve the understanding of physicians' mental health, identify gaps in research, and propose evidence-based solutions.

Methods: A scoping review of the literature was conducted using Arksey and O'Malley's framework, which examined peer-reviewed articles published in English during 2008-2018 with a focus on North America. Data were summarized quantitatively and thematically.

Results: A total of 91 articles meeting eligibility criteria were reviewed. Most of the literature was specific to burnout (n = 69), followed by depression and suicidal ideation (n = 28), psychological harm and distress (n = 9), wellbeing and wellness (n = 8), and general mental health (n = 3). The literature had a strong focus on interventions, but had less to say about barriers for seeking help and the effects of mental health concerns among physicians on patient care.

Conclusions: More research is needed to examine a broader variety of mental health concerns in physicians and to explore barriers to seeking care. The implication of poor physician mental health on patients should also be examined more closely. Finally, the reviewed literature lacks intersectional and longitudinal studies, as well as evaluations of interventions offered to improve mental wellbeing of physicians.

Keywords: Barriers; Burnout; Interventions; Medical students; Mental health; Mental illness; North America; Physicians; Residents; Scoping review.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA Flow Diagram
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Number of sources by characteristics of included literature
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Frequency of themes in literature (n = 91)
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Number of sources by mental health topic discussed (n = 91)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ahmed N, Devitt KS, Keshet I, Spicer J, Imrie K, Feldman L, et al. A systematic review of the effects of resident duty hour restrictions in surgery: impact on resident wellness, training, and patient outcomes. Ann Surg. 2014;259(6):1041–1053. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000000595. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Arksey H, O’Malley L. Scoping studies: towards a methodological framework. Int J Soc Res Methodol. 2005;8(1):19–32. doi: 10.1080/1364557032000119616. - DOI
    1. Atallah F, McCalla S, Karakash S, Minkoff H. Please put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others: a call to arms to battle burnout. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2016;215(6):731.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2016.08.029. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Baer TE, Feraco AM, Tuysuzoglu Sagalowsky S, Williams D, Litman HJ, Vinci RJ. Pediatric resident burnout and attitudes toward patients. Pediatrics. 2017;139(3):e20162163. doi: 10.1542/peds.2016-2163. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Blais R, Safianyk C, Magnan A, Lapierre A. Physician, heal thyself: survey of users of the Quebec physicians health program. Can Fam Physician. 2010;56(10):e383–e389. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types