O0029: Work-life Integration for Females in Pediatric Emergency Medicine: Themes Identified Through Group Level Assessment

Background: Female physicians have higher rates of burnout and lower rates of career satisfaction compared to their male counterparts. Up to 49.5% of Pediatric Emergency Medicine (PEM) physicians report burnout, with females reporting higher rates than males (Kondrich, 2022). We explored the unique factors that contribute to work-life balance, satisfaction, and burnout in female PEM physicians.

Methods: A sample of self-identified female PEM attendings, recruited from multiple institutions within the United States participated in a virtual focus group using group level assessment (GLA) methodology. GLA allows for key partners to generate and evaluate data in an interactive, participatory session (Vaughn, 2014 & 2019). We completed the GLA process steps of climate setting, generating, appreciating, reflecting, understanding, selecting, and action as we 1) identified themes for this population that contributed to work-life balance, burnout, and career satisfaction and 2) determined actionable factors based on the identified themes. We collected, collaborated, and thematically analyzed data in real-time through iterative processing. We interpreted results with the group and prioritized identified themes through rounds of distillation. We gathered additional specific qualitative data in the form of direct responses to prompts.

Results: Seventeen female PEM attending physicians participated, representing 10 institutions (ages ranged from 30s-70s with 69% of participants employed full-time). We identified three main themes contributing to work-life balance, burnout, and career satisfaction: a) Balance with family life, b) Gender inequities, and c) Leadership. Participants identified the following actionable factors based on the identified themes: 1) Improved resources and supports for physicians with family responsibilities, 2) Initiatives to equalize pay, opportunity, and career advancement among genders, and 3) Institutional focus on supportive, collaborative leadership. Additional themes of relevance that the group generated included lack of connection, importance of support systems, lack of sleep and overnight recovery, control over time and schedule.

Conclusion: Female PEM physicians identified balance with family life, gender inequities, and leadership as major themes affecting physician burnout, career satisfaction and work-life balance. Institutions and individuals should focus on identified action steps in wellbeing initiatives to improve work-life integration for female PEM physicians.

References:
Kondrich JE, Han R, Clark S, Platt SL. Burnout in Pediatric Emergency Medicine Physicians: A Predictive Model. Pediatr Emerg Care. 2022;38(2):e1003-e1008.
Vaughn LM, Lohmueller M. Calling all stakeholders: group-level assessment (GLA)—a qualitative and participatory method for large groups. Eval Rev. 2014;38(4):336-355. https://doi.org/10.1177/0193841X14544903.
Vaughn, L.M. and DeJonckheere, M. (2019), Methodological Progress Note: Group Level Assessment. Journal of Hospital Medicine, 14: 627-629. https://doi.org/10.12788/jhm.3289