SHM Converge Scientific Abstract ePoster Gallery-Experiences of Bias and Burnout Among Academic Hospitalists

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This survey study examined experiences of bias and burnout among hospitalists at a large urban academic medical center. All 145 eligible hospitalists, including physicians and advanced practice providers, were invited to complete a 30-item RedCap survey; 103 responded (71% response rate). The survey asked about personally experienced and observed bias, including gender, racial, and other forms of bias such as those related to gender identity, sexual orientation, body habitus, age, accent, country of origin, and socioeconomic status. It also assessed whether bias experiences affected feelings of imposter syndrome, job enjoyment, burnout, self-confidence, callousness, and perceived quality of care.<br /><br />Results showed high rates of bias exposure. Eighty-two percent of respondents reported observing gender bias and 82% reported observing racial bias; many also reported experiencing bias personally. Despite these frequent experiences, only 11% said they consistently addressed bias with the source. Likewise, just 36% reported often or almost always debriefing with the targeted colleague after witnessing bias.<br /><br />Most respondents indicated that bias negatively affected well-being. Many agreed that these experiences contributed to imposter syndrome, reduced enjoyment of work, increased burnout, and harmed self-confidence. Some also felt bias negatively impacted the care they provided.<br /><br />The authors conclude that bias is common among academic hospitalists and is linked to burnout. They argue that “mistreatment” is too broad a term and may miss subtler but harmful microaggressions. They recommend institution-level interventions, along with individual and team-based strategies such as normalizing discussion of bias, training clinicians to respond to microaggressions, creating supportive workplace policies, and encouraging peer debriefing.

Asset Subtitle

Gabrielle K. Bromberg

Meta Tag

Author List Gabrielle K. Bromberg, Jessica Berwick, Sherri-Ann M. Burnett-Bowie

Category Research

Concept Bias

Concept Hospitalist

Concept Burnout

Concept Prevalence

Concept Gender Bias

Distinguished Non-Finalist

Presenter Organization Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School

Presenting Author Gabrielle K. Bromberg

Track Other

Keywords

hospitalists

bias

burnout

microaggressions

gender bias

racial bias

imposter syndrome

workplace discrimination

academic medical center

peer debriefing

Bias

Hospitalist

Burnout

Prevalence

Gender Bias