{"id":46474,"date":"2020-01-20T17:10:52","date_gmt":"2020-01-20T16:10:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?p=46474"},"modified":"2020-01-29T15:42:21","modified_gmt":"2020-01-29T14:42:21","slug":"the-medical-profession-is-breaking-its-psychological-contract-with-medical-students-and-trainees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/01\/20\/the-medical-profession-is-breaking-its-psychological-contract-with-medical-students-and-trainees\/","title":{"rendered":"The medical profession is breaking its psychological contract with medical students and trainees"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?hl=en&amp;lr=&amp;id=xz9CCgAAQBAJ&amp;oi=fnd&amp;pg=PR9&amp;dq=Psychological+Contracts+in+Organizations:+Understanding+Written+and+Unwritten+Agreements&amp;ots=8NXqst8CEj&amp;sig=phTqzI5tVe5md1aU8igieDVf1jY#v=onepage&amp;q=Psychological%20Contracts%20in%20Organizations%3A%20Understanding%20Written%20and%20Unwritten%20Agreements&amp;f=false\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Psychological contracts<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> exist between medical trainees and their training institutions that involve a series of expectations and implied promises. [<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">1]<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> There is evidence that in the eyes of medical trainees such expectations and implied promises are being violated given current high levels of burnout, career regret, and psychological distress observed within their cohort. Too many early career violations of perceived promises and expectations produce doctors who think in a more self-interested, transactional, and short-term way about their careers. Implied promises can be general, like expecting to be treated fairly, or more specific, such as not being given too high a patient workload. Psychological contracts are subjective; this makes them more likely <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/00223980.2012.717552\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">violated<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> when people think their expectations have not been met, whether it is objectively so. [<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2]<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">We believe that too many medical students and young doctors at present experience psychological contract violations with the institutions responsible for training them. The literature suggests that negative psychological states like <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/scholar?hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0%2C22&amp;q=6.%09Mata+DA%2C+Ramos+MA%2C+Bansal+N%2C+et+al.+Prevalence+of+depression+and+depressive+symptoms+among+resident+physicians+a+systematic+review+and+meta-analysis.+JAMA.+2015%3B314%2822%29%3A2373%E2%80%932383.+&amp;btnG=\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">burnout,<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/scholar?hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0%2C22&amp;q=Dyrbye+LN%2C+Thomas+MR%2C+Shanafelt+TD.+Systematic+review+of+depression%2C+anxiety%2C+and+other+indicators+of+psychological+distress+among+US+and+Canadian+medical+students.+Acad+Med.+2006%3B81%284%29%3A354-73.+&amp;btnG=\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">distress<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.medscape.com\/slideshow\/2018-lifestyle-burnout-depression-6009235\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">depression<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> are evident in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/scholar?hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0%2C22&amp;q=Relationship+between+burnout+and+professional+conduct+and+attitudes+among+US+medical+students&amp;btnG=\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">physician trainees<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> during their foundational years implying that psychological contract violations are occurring from the first day of medical training, in systems as varied as the United States, Canada, and the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bjgp.org\/content\/66\/643\/e128.short\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">United Kingdom<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. [<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">3-7]<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0Meaningful percentages of physicians leaving residency training in the U.S. already express <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.merritthawkins.com\/news-and-insights\/thought-leadership\/survey\/2017-final-year-medical-residents-survey\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">regret<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> for choosing a medical career. [<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">8]<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jama\/fullarticle\/186582\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">medical training culture<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> still contends with issues of mistreatment, sexism, and exposure to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/16232310\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">unprofessional<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and abusive behavior. [<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">5,9]<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Despite recent efforts at small-scale reform, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/scholar?hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0%2C22&amp;q=Dyrbye+LN%2C+Thomas+MR%2C+Shanafelt+TD.+Systematic+review+of+depression%2C+anxiety%2C+and+other+indicators+of+psychological+distress+among+US+and+Canadian+medical+students.+Acad+Med.+2006%3B81%284%29%3A354-73.+&amp;btnG=\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">medical training<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> remains defined by a rigid curriculum focused on \u201cbook smarts\u201d and high-stakes, standardized testing that gives many students the perception of a one-size-fits all training experience that is somewhat joyless and overly routinised. [<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">7]<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0 Research shows that the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/26647259\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">medical training environment<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> still has too many <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/scholar?hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0%2C22&amp;q=Undermining+and+bullying+in+surgical+training&amp;btnG=\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">poor role models<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">; promotes hyper competition among students; avoids a heavy focus on personal growth; and works off punitive feedback systems centered on blame.[<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">10,11]<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As well as producing a variety of negative psychological states, these early contract violations open deep fissures in the trust between medical student and training institution. This situation may help to explain why <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/24655727\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">young physicians<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> now emphasize values and preferences aimed at work-life balance, job security, and establishing a healthy career lifestyle, and steer towards becoming salaried employees and entering certain clinical specialties to achieve these goals\u2014typifying in some cases more transactional thinking around career choices. [<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">12]<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Residency or specialty training produces additional perceived contract violations that further this type of thinking. Young physicians engage in multi-year work experiences where they are asked to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/business\/archive\/2017\/02\/doctors-long-hours-schedules\/516639\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">work long and unpredictable hours<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">; given less job flexibility; paid less than they believe they are worth; continue to be treated at times in less professional ways; and are exposed to the harsh realities of patient care in performance- and efficiency-obsessed delivery systems. [<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">13]<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> This can convince some that fairness from their future employers is less possible, which may then feed into additional feelings of burnout, career regret, and job dissatisfaction, as well as poorer job choices.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Building greater mutual trust between medical educators and physician trainees through greater recognition and meeting of the latter\u2019s expectations is imperative. Psychological contract theory highlights the role of trust in reducing the potential for contract violations to occur. Trust is a powerful predictor of whether <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/sk.sagepub.com\/books\/psychological-contracts-in-organizations\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">contract breaches<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> will occur, and greater initial trust in a relationship lowers the potential for individuals to experience breaches over time. [<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">1]<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A cursory examination of the first interactions that physician trainees have with medical schools and residency or specialty training programmes suggests that from day one, the relationships begin somewhat adversarially, suspiciously, and with potentially lower levels of trust between the parties. The relationships often begin as one-sided, when schools and programmes put trainees through a series of achievement hurdles to earn the right to enter into a relationship with them. This creates power asymmetries that convey to trainees their relative lack of influence over the selection process. Physician trainees are expected immediately to both learn and comply with the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/15459051\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">norms<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of their training organisations (e.g. \u201cthe hidden curriculum\u201d), regardless of whether they agree with them. [<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">14]<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> These realities can foster apprehension and cynicism in the trainee towards the institution from day one.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Creating greater trust from day one is a multi-faceted endeavour. Broadly speaking, it requires meaningful changes in how trainees are recruited and selected for participation in a medical school or residency programmes. It requires reform to the negative cultural elements to which trainees are exposed. It must involve transparency in the narrative offered by the training institutions related to what trainees can expect in the way of treatment, education, and support once they gain participation in the organisation. This way trainees can make choices that are more informed and potentially adjust the nature of what they believe the organisation owes them. Training programmes must better assess both formally and informally, what trainees expect and feel they deserve from training, so they are more aware of how to understand and fulfill the latter\u2019s perceived obligations. Through these adjustments, medical educators and physicians-in-training will understand and believe in one another more strongly, forging the kinds of psychological contracts that produce better physicians.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/tim_hoff.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-46475\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/tim_hoff.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"160\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/tim_hoff.jpg 160w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/tim_hoff-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\" \/><\/a>Timothy Hoff<\/strong> is Professor of Management, Health Care Systems and Health Policy at the D\u2019Amore-McKim School of Business and School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Northeastern University, Boston, and a Visiting and Associate Fellow at Green-Templeton College and Said Business School, the University of Oxford.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/SD-for-Web.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-46476\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/SD-for-Web.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"160\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/SD-for-Web.jpg 160w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/SD-for-Web-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\" \/><\/a><em>Sue Dopson<\/em><\/strong><em> is the Rhodes Trust Professor of Organizational Behavior at Said Business School, and Fellow of Green-Templeton College at University of Oxford<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/Mitra.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-46477\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/Mitra.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"160\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/Mitra.jpg 160w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/Mitra-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><em><strong>Mahima Mitra<\/strong> is a Research Fellow at the Sa\u00efd Business School and Academic Associate of Brasenose College, University of Oxford.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Competing interests<\/strong>: none declared.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>References:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rousseau DM. Psychological Contracts in Organizations: Understanding Written and Unwritten Agreements. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc; 1995.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jamil A, Raja U, Darr W. Psychological contract types as moderator in the breach-violation and violation-burnout relationships. J Psychol. 2013;147(5):491\u2014515.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Doran N, Fox F, Rodham K, Taylor G, Harris M. Lost to the NHS: a mixed methods study of why GPs leave practice early in England. Br J Gen Pract. 2016;66(643), e128\u2014e135.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Medscape. National Physician Burnout &amp; Depression 2018 Report. Available at: https:\/\/www.medscape.com\/sites\/public\/lifestyle\/2018. Accessed on July 13, 2018.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dyrbye LN, Massie FS, Eacker A, et al. Relationship between burnout and professional conduct and attitudes among US medical students. JAMA. 2010;304(11):1173\u20131180.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mata DA, Ramos MA, Bansal N, et al. Prevalence of depression and depressive symptoms among resident physicians a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA. 2015;314(22):2373\u20132383.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dyrbye LN, Thomas MR, Shanafelt TD. Systematic review of depression, anxiety, and other indicators of psychological distress among US and Canadian medical students. Acad Med. 2006;81(4):354-73.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Merrit Hawkins. 2017 Final Year Medical Residents Survey. Available at: https:\/\/www.merritthawkins.com\/news-and-insights\/thought-leadership\/survey\/2017-final-year-medical-residents-survey\/. Accessed on July 13, 2018.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rautio A, Sunnari V, Nuutinen M, Laitala M. Mistreatment of university students most common during medical studies. BMC Med Educ.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2005;5:36.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mata DA, Ramos MA, Bansal N, et al. Prevalence of depression and depressive symptoms among resident physicians a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA. 2015;314(22):2373\u20142383.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wild JRL, Ferguson HJM, McDermott FD, Hornby ST, Gokani VJ. Undermining and bullying in surgical training: A review and recommendations by the Association of Surgeons in Training. Int<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">J\u00a0Surg.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2015;23:S5\u2014S9.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mader EM, Roseamelia C, Morley CP. The temporal decline of idealism in two cohorts of medical students at one institution. BMC Med Educ.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2014;14(1):58.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Park R. Why So Many Young Doctors Work Such Awful Hours. Available at: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/business\/archive\/2017\/02\/doctors-long-hours-schedules\/516639\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/business\/archive\/2017\/02\/doctors-long-hours-schedules\/516639\/<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Accessed on July 13, 2018. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lempp H, Seale C. The hidden curriculum in undergraduate medical education: qualitative study of medical students&#8217; perceptions of teaching. BMJ. <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2004;329(7469):770.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Psychological contracts exist between medical trainees and their training institutions that involve a series of expectations and implied promises. [1] There is evidence that in the eyes of medical trainees [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/01\/20\/the-medical-profession-is-breaking-its-psychological-contract-with-medical-students-and-trainees\/\">More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45788,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18907],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wellbeing"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The medical profession is breaking its psychological contract with medical students and trainees - The BMJ<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/01\/20\/the-medical-profession-is-breaking-its-psychological-contract-with-medical-students-and-trainees\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The medical profession is breaking its psychological contract with medical students and trainees - The BMJ\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Psychological contracts exist between medical trainees and their training institutions that involve a series of expectations and implied promises. 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