Alleviating Conflict Between Work, Home Life May Improve Physician Mental Health

The medical internship year can be a challenging time for many physician trainees. Astudy published yesterday inJAMA Internal Medicine found that female medical interns are more likely than male medical interns to experience symptoms of depression. The study also found that the sex disparity in depression during the internship year may be driven in part by increasing conflict between work and personal obligations (work-family conflict). “Systemic modifications to alleviate conflict between work and family life may improve physician mental health and reduce the disproportionate depression disease burden for female physicians,” wrote psychiatrist Constance Guille, M.D., of the Medical University of South Carolina and colleagues. “Given that depression among physicians is associated with poor patient care and career attrition, efforts to alleviate depression among physicians has the potential to reduce the negative consequences associated with this disease.”Guille and colleagues invited medical students matching to residency programs across all specialties throughout the United States during the 2015-2016 academic year to complete online assessments two months prior to the start of the internship year and again at six months into the internship year. As part of these assessments, the participants were asked to report depressive symptoms using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and the degree to which work responsibilities interfered with family life ( “famil...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: Anita Everett burnout Constance Guille depression internship JAMA Internal Medicine Judy Shea Lisa Bellini PHQ-9 physician wellness trainees work-family conflict Source Type: research