How can educators support general practice (GP) trainees to develop resilience to prevent burnout?

CONTEXT: Burnout impacts adversely on professional and personal life, and holds implications for patient care. Current research on burnout mainly focuses on established general practitioners but it is unclear how early the signs of burnout really start. This work seeks to identify whether specific GP trainee groups are particularly at risk of burnout and the aspects of training they find stressful. METHODS: A longitudinal cohort study, collecting qualitative and quantitative data through a single mode of data collection (questionnaire) took place with trainees from all GP training years (ST1-3), across a vocational training scheme (n = 48). Data gathered included the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI). RESULTS: Higher than anticipated levels of burnout were displayed by all trainees. A sub-group self reporting higher levels of burnout comprised all-female, UK-trained-at-undergraduate GP trainees, with a partner but no children. Top reported stressors included knowledge/uncertainty, workload/time pressures and ePortfolio. Less than 50% of trainees perceived their burnout levels to be as high as their OLBI showing potential lack of insight. CONCLUSIONS: This research demonstrates that high levels of burnout are experienced in GP trainees as early as the first year of training. Early identification of burnout amongst trainees is essential by GP educators to help protect the future GP workforce.

ALERT--a multiprofessional training course in the care of the acutely ill adult patient.

The Acute Life-threatening Events--Recognition and Treatment (ALERT) course is a one-day multidisciplinary course originally designed to give newly qualified doctors and nurses greater confidence and ability in the recognition and management of adult patients who have impending or established critical illness. It may also be suitable for many other groups of health service workers. ALERT was developed using principles common to many advanced life support courses and incorporates aspects of clinical governance, multidisciplinary education and interprofessional working. It incorporates pre-course reading, informal and interactive seminars, practical demonstrations and role-play during clinically based scenarios. A novel aspect of ALERT is that participants undertake role interchange during scenarios, thereby facilitating mutual understanding. At all times during the course, participants are encouraged to reflect on their actions and to pay particular attention to detail. The course focuses on those problems that lead ward nurses to call doctors for assistance, e.g. 'the blue patient', 'the hypotensive patient'. Communication skills are covered frequently in the course, during seminars and scenarios, but also as a specific session that covers three aspects--breaking bad news, writing patient notes and interpersonal/interprofessional communication.