LGBTQ+ physicians and residents have increased burnout and decreased professional fulfillment, and LGBTQ+ physicians were more likely to express an intent to leave their current practice than non-LGBTQ+ peers.
This is according to a study, “Academic Physician and Trainee Occupational Well-Being by Sexual and Gender Minority Status”, that appeared in JAMA Network Open.
Burnout is a public health crisis that affects the well-being of physicians and other healthcare workers, and the populations they serve. Burnout is characterized by emotional exhaustion, cynicism, lack of motivation, and feelings of ineffectiveness and inadequate achievement at work. Past studies have shown that compared to the general working population, physicians are at increased risk for burnout and less likely to be satisfied with their work-life balance.
Sexual and gender minority (SGM), including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) clinicians, experience unique workplace stressors. However, few studies have explored the relationship between SGM status and occupational well-being in physicians and residents.
And so between October 2019 and July 2021, the researchers of this study surveyed a cross-section of attending physicians and residents in the US at eight healthcare organizations to assess for professional fulfillment, burnout and intent to leave the profession.
They found that:
- there is an association between SGM status and occupational well-being for academic physicians and residents.
- LGBTQ+ physicians and residents reported increased burnout and decreased professional fulfillment.
- LGBTQ+ physicians were more likely to express an intent to leave their current practice than non-LGBTQ+ peers.
“Our study highlights that LGBTQ+ physicians experience more burnout, less professional fulfillment and greater intent to leave their practice than non-LGBTQ+ physicians. Given the scarcity of LGBTQ+ physicians and the increasing prevalence of patients who identify as LGBTQ+, a disproportionate loss of LGBTQ+ physicians will negatively impact our profession’s capacity to meet patients’ need for high-quality, accessible health care,” said corresponding author Carl G. Streed, MD, MPH, FACP, FAHA, associate professor of medicine at the school and a primary care physician at BMC.
According to the researchers, a healthcare workforce where clinicians look like the communities they serve is essential to improving health and well-being. Thus, retention of a diverse, vital clinician workforce is critical to patient care.
“Given the importance of LGBTQ+ physicians in providing essential skills and sharing lived experience with many of our patients, it is important to understand the factors that affect their recruitment and retention,” said co-author Susannah G. Rowe, MD, MPH, FACS, Associate Chief Medical Officer for Wellness and Professional Vitality at BMC and assistant professor of ophthalmology at the school.
The researchers believe further research is needed to explore individual, community, and institutional factors affecting the well-being and success of of LGBTQ+ physicians and residents.
