Burnout is Associated With Emotional Intelligence but not Traditional Job Performance Measurements in Surgical Residents.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate whether burnout was associated with emotional intelligence and job performance in surgical residents.


DESIGN
General surgery residents at a single institution were surveyed using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and trait EI questionnaire (TEIQ-SF). Burnout was defined as scoring in 2 of the 3 following domains; Emotional Exhaustion (high), Depersonalization (high), and Personal Accomplishment (low). Job performance was evaluated using faculty evaluations of clinical competency-based surgical milestones and standardized test scores including the American Board of Surgery In-Training Exam (ABSITE) and the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 3. USMLE Step 1 and USMLE Step 2, which were taken prior to residency training, were included to examine possible associations of burnout with USMLE examinations. Statistical comparison was made using Pearson correlation and simple linear regression adjusting for PGY level.


SETTING
This study was conducted at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) general surgery residency program.


PARTICIPANTS
All current and incoming general surgery residents at UAB were invited to participate in this study.


RESULTS
Forty residents participated in the survey (response rate 77%). Ten residents, evenly distributed from incoming residents to PGY-4, had burnout (25%). Mean global EI was lower in residents with burnout versus those without burnout (3.71 vs 3.9, p = 0.02). Of the 4 facets of EI, mean self-control values were lower in residents with burnout versus those without burnout (3.3 vs 4.06, p < 0.01). Each component of burnout was associated with global EI, with the strongest correlation being with personal accomplishment (r = 0.64; p < 0.01). Residents with burnout did not have significantly different mean scores for USMLE Step 1 (229 vs 237, p = 0.12), Step 2 (248 vs 251, p = 0.56), Step 3 (223 vs 222, p = 0.97), or ABSITE percentile (44.6 vs 58, p = 0.33) compared to residents without burnout. Personal accomplishment was associated with ABSITE percentile scores (r = 0.35; p = 0.049). None of the 16 surgical milestone scores were significantly associated with burnout.


CONCLUSIONS
Burnout is present in surgery residents and associated with emotional intelligence. There was no association of burnout with USMLE scores, ABSITE percentile, or surgical milestones. Traditional methods of assessing resident performance may not be capturing burnout and strategies to reduce burnout should consider targeting emotional intelligence.
['Cofer|Kevin D|KD|', 'Hollis|Robert H|RH|', 'Goss|Lauren|L|', 'Morris|Melanie S|MS|', 'Porterfield|John R|JR|', 'Chu|Daniel I|DI|']
D000046:Academic Medical Centers D000328:Adult D000407:Alabama D002055:Burnout, Professional D002983:Clinical Competence D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate D056348:Emotional Intelligence D005260:Female D013502:General Surgery D006801:Humans D007396:Internship and Residency D016014:Linear Models D008297:Male D018570:Risk Assessment D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires D000066477:Work Performance
burnout emotional intelligence surgical residency ABSITE Interpersonal and Communication Skills Medical Knowledge Practice-Based Learning and Improvement clinical competency