Can doctors self-manage stress?

Occupational stress, job satisfaction and health state in male and female junior hospital doctors in Greece

This study investigates the occupational stress amongst 355 male and female Greek junior hospital doctors (JHDs) working in the Greater Athens area. The initial phase of the research involved in‐depth interviews with a random stratified sample of sixty JHDs, both male and female, in a variety of specialties of junior hospital staff. An extended version of the occupational stress indicator (OSI) questionnaire was developed, incorporating additional items based on the results of the qualitative part of the study, and on previous research findings in the same area. The sample consisted of 193 males and 162 females JHDs, who completed the OSI. Analyses of the data demonstrated that, overall, JHDs presented significantly higher levels of sources of pressure than the normative population and other comparative occupational samples. As regards the various sub‐group comparisons, bivariate analyses revealed that there were significant differences between male and female JHDs in certain aspects of pressure (“career and achievement” and “home/work interface”). Multivariate analyses revealed that predictors of physical and mental ill health and job dissatisfaction were type A behaviour and “demands of the profession” respectively. The research implications of the findings are discussed.

Stress in doctors and dentists who teach

OBJECTIVE

To explore the relationship between a teaching role and stress in doctors and dentists who teach.

METHODS

Medline, PubMed, BIDS database for social sciences literature, and the ERIC database for educational literature were searched using the key words 'stress' or 'burnout' with the terms doctor, physician, dentist, teacher, lecturer, academic staff, and university staff. Other books and journals known to the authors were also used.

RESULTS

Many studies have shown high levels of stress in doctors, dentists, teachers, and lecturers. A large number of factors are implicated, including low autonomy, work overload, and lack of congruence between power and responsibility. Doctors and dentists who take on a teaching role in addition to their clinical role may increase their levels of stress, but there is also evidence that this dual role may reduce job-related stress.

CONCLUSIONS

Working as a doctor or dentist may entail higher levels of stress than are experienced by the general population. In some situations adding in the role of teacher reduces this stress, but more research is needed to explain this finding.