A systematic review of interventions aiming to improve newly-qualified doctors' wellbeing in the United Kingdom
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Newly-qualified doctors in the United Kingdom experience a great deal of stress and have poor wellbeing when compared to more senior counterparts. A number of interventions have been put in place to boost healthcare professionals' wellbeing, but little is known about interventions aimed to improve the wellbeing of newly-qualified doctors in the United Kingdom. This study aims to systematically review current evidence of interventions which improved the wellbeing of newly-qualified junior doctors in the United Kingdom. METHODS: Five key electronic databases were searched. Subsequently, reference scanning and citation search was performed. Studies were included if they were conducted from the commencement of the Foundation Programme in 2004, until 2019. In addition, studies had to be performed on junior doctors: working in the United Kingdom and within their first five years post-qualification and have a quantitative outcome. Studies which did not meet these criteria were excluded. Quality was assessed using the modified Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Bias was not formally assessed using a standardised tool. RESULTS: Seven papers met the inclusion criteria and identified three main types of interventions: mentorship, mindfulness and clinical preparation interventions. The majority of included studies reported a positive result from the performed intervention, suggesting these to be beneficial in improving junior doctor wellbeing, and thereby reducing anxiety and stress levels. However, most of the studies used small sample sizes. CONCLUSIONS: This review reveals that there is dearth of evidence on the effectiveness of intervention to improve the wellbeing of newly-qualified doctors in the United Kingdom. Most of the identified interventions focused on relieving stress and anxiety inherent within newly-qualified doctors' training programmes. However, wellbeing interventions need to take into cognisance all the factors which impact on wellbeing, particularly job-related factors. We recommend that future researchers implement large-scale holistic interventions using appropriate research methods. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42019127341.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Krishnan et al. concluded that mindfulness training can improve the wellbeing of resident physicians.
“Krishnan et al. have concluded that mindfulness training can improve the wellbeing of resident physicians [42].”
From Mindfulness-based Practices in Workers to Address Mental Health Conditions: A Systematic Review (2023) · cites this paper as [42]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: the PRISMA statement
Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., Altman, D. G., & for the PRISMA Group (2009) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.b2535 · Cited by 83,823 · see citing works
Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: The PRISMA Statement
Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., Altman, D. G., & The PRISMA Group (2009) · PLoS Medicine · doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000097 · Cited by 64,042 · see citing works
Wang, G., Ma, R., Qiao, G., Wada, K., Aizawa, Y., & Satoh, T. (2015) · Integrative Medicine International · doi:10.1159/000368408 · Cited by 18,759 · see citing works
Healthcare staff wellbeing, burnout, and patient safety: a systematic review
Hall, L. H., Johnson, J., Watt, I., Tsipa, A., & O’Connor, D. B. (2016) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0159015 · Cited by 1,683 · see citing works
Herzog, R., Álvarez-Pasquin, M. J., Díaz, C., Del Barrio, J. L., Estrada, J. M., & Gil, Á. (2013) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/1471-2458-13-154 · Cited by 1,652 · see citing works
Controlled Interventions to Reduce Burnout in Physicians: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Panagioti, M., Panagopoulou, E., Bower, P., Lewith, G., Kontopantelis, E., Chew-Graham, C., Dawson, S., van Marwijk, H., Geraghty, K., & Esmail, A. (2017) · JAMA Internal Medicine · doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.7674 · Cited by 1,395 · see citing works
Imo, U. O. (2017) · BJPsych Bulletin · doi:10.1192/pb.bp.116.054247 · Cited by 268 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Background Burnout and psychiatric morbidity has been identified to be prevalent and worryingly high amongst doctors in the United Kingdom (UK) [1].”
BackgroundGetting Off the “Gold Standard”: Randomized Controlled Trials and Education Research
Sullivan, G. M. (2011) · Journal of Graduate Medical Education · doi:10.4300/jgme-d-11-00147.1 · Cited by 243 · see citing works
How prepared are UK medical graduates for practice? A rapid review of the literature 2009–2014
Monrouxe, L. V., Grundy, L., Mann, M. K., John, Z., Panagoulas, E., Bullock, A. D., & Mattick, K. L. (2017) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2016-013656 · Cited by 241 · see citing works
Reducing stress and burnout in junior doctors: the impact of debriefing sessions
Gunasingam, N., Burns, K., Edwards, J., Dinh, M., & Walton, M. (2015) · Postgraduate Medical Journal · doi:10.1136/postgradmedj-2014-132847 · Cited by 141 · see citing works
Mental Practice: Effective Stress Management Training for Novice Surgeons
Arora, S., Aggarwal, R., Moran, A., Sirimanna, P., Crochet, P., Darzi, A., Kneebone, R., & Sevdalis, N. (2011) · Journal of the American College of Surgeons · doi:10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2010.09.025 · Cited by 140 · see citing works
Rudaz, M., Twohig, M. P., Ong, C. W., & Levin, M. E. (2017) · Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science · doi:10.1016/j.jcbs.2017.10.001 · Cited by 107 · see citing works
A systematic review of interventions to foster physician resilience
Fox, S., Lydon, S., Byrne, D., Madden, C., Connolly, F., & O'Connor, P. E. (2017) · Postgraduate Medical Journal · doi:10.1136/postgradmedj-2017-135212 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
What could make a difference to the mental health of UK doctors? A review of the research evidence
Kinman, G., & Teoh, K. (2018) · OP Matters · doi:10.53841/bpsopm.2018.1.40.15 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
Interventions on reducing burnout in physicians and nurses: A systematic review.
(2019) · Europe PMC (PubMed Central) · doi:10.34171/mjiri.33.77 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
Physicians’ Perspectives About Burnout: a Systematic Review and Metasynthesis
Sibéoni, J., Bellon-Champel, L., Mousty, A., Manolios, É., Verneuil, L., & Révah‐Levy, A. (2019) · Journal of General Internal Medicine · doi:10.1007/s11606-019-05062-y · Cited by 87 · see citing works
Berridge, E., Freeth, D., Sharpe, J., et al. (2007) · Medical Teacher · doi:10.1080/01421590701310897 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
Peer mentoring: evaluation of a novel programme in paediatrics
Eisen, S., Sukhani, S., Brightwell, A., et al. (2013) · Archives of Disease in Childhood · doi:10.1136/archdischild-2013-304277 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Walsh, G., Hayes, B., Freeney, Y. M., & McArdle, S. (2019) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2019-030209 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Odejimi, O., Tadros, G., & Sabry, N. A. (2020) · Middle East Current Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s43045-020-00055-8 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Self-citationPeer mentoring for core medical trainees: uptake and impact
Webb, J., Brightwell, A., Sarkar, P., et al. (2015) · Postgraduate Medical Journal · doi:10.1136/postgradmedj-2014-132673 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
How to handle stress and look after your mental health
Iversen, A. C., Rushforth, B., & Forrest, K. (2009) · British medical journal · doi:10.1136/bmj.b1368 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
They did not start the fire: reviewing and resolving the issue of physician stress and burnout
Babyar, J. C. (2017) · Journal of Health Organization and Management · doi:10.1108/jhom-11-2016-0212 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Carrieri, D., Pearson, M., Mattick, K. L., Papoutsi, C., Briscoe, S., Wong, G., & Jackson, M. (2020) · Health Services and Delivery Research · doi:10.3310/hsdr08190 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Mindfulness intervention for foundation year doctors: a feasibility study
Bu, C., Cotzias, E., & Panagioti, M. (2019) · Pilot and Feasibility Studies · doi:10.1186/s40814-019-0449-y · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Health and well‐being of the NHS workforce
Boorman, S. (2010) · Journal of Public Mental Health · doi:10.5042/jpmh.2010.0158 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Number of FY2 doctors moving straight into specialty training falls again
Rimmer, A. (2019) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.l523 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Wells, S. E., Bullock, A. D., & Monrouxe, L. V. (2019) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2018-023992 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Junior doctors’ low morale is putting patients at risk, Royal College of Physicians warns
Rimmer, A. (2016) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.i6493 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Xu, H. G., Kynoch, K., Tuckett, A. G., Eley, R. M., & Newcombe, P. A. (2019) · The JBI Database of Systematic Reviews and Implementation Reports · doi:10.11124/jbisrir-2017-003955 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Murray, M., Murray, L., & Donnelly, M. (2015) · Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1186/s13643-015-0098-z · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Current challenges facing junior doctors in the NHS: a quantitative survey
Tweedie, J., Goh, Y. Y., Postlethwaite, C., et al. (2017) · Clinical Medicine · doi:10.7861/clinmedicine.17-3-s31 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Pal, S., & Kelsall, A. (2017) · doi:10.1136/archdischild-2017-313087.259 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Mindfulness-based Practices in Workers to Address Mental Health Conditions: A Systematic Review
Durand-Moreau, Q., Jackson, T., Deibert, D., Els, C., Kung, J. Y., & Straube, S. (2023) · Safety and Health at Work · doi:10.1016/j.shaw.2023.07.006
- Authors
- Krishnan, A., Odejimi, O., Bertram, I., Chukowry, P. S., & Tadros, G.
- Affiliations
- University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- Aston University (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Krishnan, Aditya
- Venue
- BMC Psychology
- Published
- 2022-06-26
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 161-161
- ISSN
- 2050-7283 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9235154
- OpenAlex
- W4283520552
- Cited by
- 27
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 2
- FWCI
- 1.21
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- BMC Psychology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Aston Publications Explorer (Aston University) (acceptedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnout
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Innovations in Medical Education
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Occupational Therapy › Occupational Health and Burnout
- Keywords
- newly qualified doctors, medical residents, well-being interventions, occupational stress, anxiety, mentoring, mindfulness, clinical preparation, foundation programs, medical training, job-related factors
- MeSH terms
- United Kingdom, Health Personnel, Humans, Physicians, Mindfulness
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
