Conceptual Theory, Essay Example

Recent literature has pointed out a disturbing phenomenon among doctors: after undergoing stressful medical school and residency terms, many doctors burn out or decide to leave the profession within a short time frame (Collier, V.U., McCue, J.D., Markus, A. & Smith, L. (2002).  The trajectory of this trend is particularly worrying as the United States government carries out comprehensive health reform that will likely increase access for citizens and thus spur demand for more doctors across the board (Dyrbe & Tait, 2011).  At the same time doctors duties are being reexamined, the economics behind the profession are also changing: reforms to lower payments for government patients and longer hours may add stress and incentives to seek work in different capacities in order to pay off debt and maintain current living standards.

The probability of burn out among doctors may be particularly acute among doctors with a significant patient load, doctors who purse clinical research while still seeing patients, or doctors who treat patients with chronic conditions that require emotional and physical attachment. The overall purpose of this study is to investigate the phenomenon by examining the overall job satisfaction of oncologists (cancer doctors)- in particular examining key factors that might predict burnout and conflict in the life of these doctors.
This study will look at three main factors related to the long-term well being of oncologists. First, the study will look at changing institutional factors in the business operating environment for their job. Important institutional factors for oncologists mainly coalesce around issues of pay and treatment: changes to Medicare reimbursement rates, changes introduced by recent health care reform efforts, and general tradeoffs between work and quality and life. Second, the study will look at factors related to the duties of oncology. In particular, oncologists traditionally, due to the long-term and emotional nature of the illness, may suffer from higher rates of stress and burnout as a result. Third, the study will look at personal factors related to the duties of oncology. That is, how clinicians in oncology perceive the work/ life balance, and how that influences further participation in the profession.

In order to pinpoint potential explanations for this increased rate of burnout in doctors, this study will use a qualitative case study method.  The qualitative case study method has been used in the literature to address a range of topics from burnout in psychologists to burnout in medical residents (Peisha, Latif, Wilheilm & Williams, 2009). While the format has been used extensively, there is a lacuna in research regarding the factors triggering an increasing rate of burnout among oncologists.  Of the existing studies on burnout among oncologists, a majority either deal with quantitative methods focusing on surveys or questionnaires of oncologists (Whippen & Canellos, 1991) or employ informal qualitative methods to assess the level of burnout among oncologists in a certain sub-population.   Thus, the proposed format for this study is a qualitative case study to investigate and understand medical oncologist’s job satisfaction in three different states: Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan. This study will contribute to the existing body of knowledge in two ways: 1) By using qualitative methods to assess the job satisfaction of oncologists through interviews; 2) By examining how numerous important issues such as health reform may impact this trend in the future.

References

Armstrong J, Lederberg M, & Holland J. (2004). Fellows’ forum: a workshop on the stresses of being an oncologist. Journal of Cancer Education : the Official Journal of the American Association for Cancer Education. 19(2), 88-90.

Collier, V.U., McCue, J.D., Markus, A. & Smith, L. (2002).   Stress in medical residency: status quo after a decade of reform, Annals of Internal Medicine, 136(3), 384-390.

Dyrbye, L.M. & Tait, S.D. (2011).  Physician burnout: a potential threat to successful health care reform.  New England Journal of Medicine, 305(19), 2009-2010.

Kuerer HM, Eberlein TJ, Pollock RE, Huschka M, Baile WF, Morrow M, Michelassi F, Singletary SE, Novotny P, Sloan J, & Shanafelt TD. (2007). Career satisfaction, practice patterns and burnout among surgical oncologists: report on the quality of life of members of the Society of Surgical Oncology. Annals of Surgical Oncology. 14(11), 3043-53.

 Peisha, C., Latif, E., Wilheilm, H., Williams, B.  (2009). Secrets to psychological success: why older doctors might have lower psychological distress and burnout than younger doctors. Aging & Mental Health.  13(2), 300-307.

Shanafelt TD, Novotny P, Johnson ME, Zhao X, Steensma DP, Lacy MQ, Rubin J, & Sloan J. (2005). The well-being and personal wellness promotion strategies of medical oncologists in the North Central Cancer Treatment Group. Oncology. 68(1), 23-32.

Whippen, D.A. & Canellos, G.P. (1991). Burnout syndrome in the practice of oncology: results of a random survey of 1,000 oncologists.  Journal of Clinical Oncology, 9(2) , 1916-1921.