General surgery resident flourishing: assessing beyond burnout

Purpose Surgical residents have known high rates of burnout. We sought to measure flourishing, a more holistic and less well-known assessment of well-being. Methods General surgery residents at two institutions completed a survey including a 12-item Harvard Flourishing Index (FI), a 2-item Maslach Burnout Inventory assessing emotional exhaustion (EE) and depersonalization (DP), and questions about satisfaction, career calling, belonging, and thoughts of attrition. Results Of the 125 surgical residents surveyed, 78 responded to the survey, (62% response rate). Respondents included residents at all PGY levels from 1 to 7, with 50% ( n = 38) being PGY-1 or PGY-2. The median FI was 6.7 [interquartile range 5.5, 7.4]. The majority ( n = 40, 52%) of residents reported EE or DP at least once a week, demonstrating high burnout. Most ( n = 39, 53%) were at least somewhat dissatisfied with their surgical training. Many ( n = 27, 43%) agreed or strongly agreed they had thoughts of attrition within the past year. Yet, the majority ( n = 44, 60%) of residents reported a sense of belonging. Residents disclosing high burnout were more likely to report low FI ( p