Medical residents who know about their program’s time off policies are more likely to find time to take care of personal needs, according to a study by OHSU authors published in Medical Education 2010. The researchers concluded there is a connection between time off and perceptions of well-being, which may be an effective tool for preventing burnout and medical errors.

“Scholarly literature has focused on preventing depression, burnout and substance abuse,” said Andrea Cedfeldt, MD, lead author and Assistant Dean, Graduate Medical Education. “With our study, we document the association between awareness of time-off policies and ability to find personal time – something we all need.”

In order to gauge OHSU residents’ awareness of the policies here for personal time off, the researchers augmented an existing annual, online survey. Of the 675 residents who received the survey, 66 percent completed it.

“We found that awareness of a personal time-off policy was low,” said Dongseok Choi, PhD, senior and corresponding author and Associate Professor, Department of Public Health & Preventive Medicine. “Residents who knew about the policy, though, were able to find more time for personal needs and reported more positive experiences, higher career choice satisfaction and relatively less perceived stress. Communication is key.”

The authors of the study were Andrea Cedfeldt, MD, Assistant Dean, Graduate Medical Education and Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine; Elizabeth Bower, MD, MPH, Assistant Dean, Continuing Medical Education and Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine; Clea English, MPH, Manager, Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics; Tana Grady-Weliky, MD, Associate Dean for Medical Education and Professor, Department of Psychiatry; Donald Girard, MD, Associate Dean, Graduate Medical Education and Professor, Department of Medicine; Dongseok Choi, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Public Health & Preventive Medicine. The study is entitled “Personal time off and residents’ career satisfaction, attitudes and emotions.”


Pictured: (top) Andrea Cedfeldt, MD; (bottom) Medical Education journal cover