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Caleb E Rux, Frank P Paloucek, Jennie B Jarrett, Addressing stress and burnout in pharmacy residents, but at what cost?, American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, Volume 79, Issue 3, 1 February 2022, Pages 126–127, https://doi.org/10.1093/ajhp/zxab369
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We thank Drs. Arendt and Boyle for their article describing burnout among pharmacy residents and mechanisms for burnout mitigation.1 Their article nicely summarizes the challenges impacting pharmacy residents and potential strategies to characterize and address these stressors, including the use of validated burnout assessment tools and group discussion. This publication comes at an important time in the midst of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which has challenged residency programs to provide experiential learning while supporting the well-being and safety of pharmacy residents. Addressing risk factors for stress and burnout is important, but these strategies should not diminish the educational experience for residents or add additional time burden, further contributing to stress.
The extent of burnout among pharmacists is currently unclear, with limited exploration of burnout in pharmacy residents. A 2020 meta-analysis found the prevalence of burnout in pharmacists to be 19% to 37%, which is lower than the previously cited range of 52% to 61%.2 Contrary to these findings, a pilot study of pharmacy residents (n = 43) in a multi-institutional teaching certificate program identified the prevalence of burnout to be 74%.3 Burnout occurs when a professional endures chronic work stress in the setting of limited resources.4 While pharmacy residents have limited resources of knowledge and skills due to insufficient experience, what chronicity of work stress is needed to develop burnout? Burnout assessment tools, such as the Maslach Burnout Inventory, are validated in professionals, not trainees who may be predisposed to higher levels of stress associated with training for a known and limited period of time. Does the discrepancy between pharmacist versus pharmacy resident burnout prevalence indicate actual burnout in residency or high levels of emotionally intense work demands causing stress? There is no defined timeframe regarding chronic work stress, but a clear distinction between stress and burnout is needed in attempting to identify and quantify burnout in pharmacy residents.
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