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Sense Of Purpose And Perceived Person-environment Fit’S Effect On Burnout In Vascular Surgery Residents
Neha Gupta, Kylie Pluim, Nicholas Schaper, Saideep Bose, M.D., Michael Williams, M.D., Matthew Smeds, M.D..
Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO, USA.

OBJECTIVES: Vascular surgery residents face a high degree of burnout, despite the identification of modifiable risk factors. Business organizations have used the psychosocial work environment including workplace fit and “sense of purpose” to assess employee satisfaction and productivity. We sought to evaluate the effect of these factors on burnout in vascular surgery trainees. METHODS: An electronic questionnaire was sent to all United States vascular surgery fellowship and residency program directors to distribute to their trainees. This survey included 15 questions compiled from the Danish Psychosocial Work Environment Questionnaire (DPQ), Meaning of Life Questionnaire (MLQ), and Oldenburg Burnout Inventory to assess the psychosocial work environment, sense of purpose, burnout, as well as demographic information. Univariate analysis was performed to identify factors associated with sense of purpose, workplace fit, and burnout. RESULTS: 73/319 (23%) trainees at 54 accredited programs completed the questionnaire (ages ranging from 21-50, 37 females (51%), 36 males (49%)). 44.4% were married, 20.6% had children, 87.5% had a mentor in Vascular surgery. Higher psychosocial fit correlated to a higher sense of purpose (p<0.001) and lower burnout (p<0.001). Male trainees were found to have significantly higher composite purpose score (p=0.003). Of the individual categories analyzed, (work conditions, work pace, trust between colleagues, possibilities for performing work tasks, emotional demands, and sense of purpose) only work conditions was found to have a significant difference (p=0.0143) between males and females. A trainee who had a mentor in vascular surgery was also found to be significant (p=0.003) for a higher purpose in any gender. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that there is an inverse relationship between purpose and burnout. Gender was associated with sense of purpose, although this may be a reflection of different work environments experienced. Providing mentorship to vascular surgery trainees may increase sense of purpose and decrease burnout.

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