Week 2: Finishing Literature Review and Planning for Next Week

Hey! Welcome back to week 2 of my Senior Project journey.

This week, I completed the analysis and data collection for my literature review. I managed to narrow down the criteria that intrigued me and focused on topics such as the data from 2020 to the present and more specifically, the experiences of frontline healthcare workers in hospitals. Through various articles and studies, I looked into the experiments conducted and the results.

One article that stood out to me is “The Impact of COVID-19 on Physician Burnout Globally: A Review.” This article discusses the effects of burnout on physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic, identifies potential contributing factors, and proposes strategies to minimize its impact. Utilizing tools like the MBI (Maslach Burnout Inventory) and the “Professional Quality of Life Questionnaire” (ProQoL), along with databases such as Medline and Embase (OVID), the author concluded that key predictors of burnout during the pandemic include occupational factors like department of work, gender (specifically female), and increased work hours.

I found the section on occupational factors more intriguing than the other key predictors of burnout listed before. The article showed that burnout rates were significantly higher among physicians in frontline care roles. However, the study showed that during COVID-19, the frequency of burnout in frontline wards was actually 13% lower than that of physicians working in usual wards. This suggests that frontline workers may have greater control over the situations encountered in their jobs due to the consistent symptoms of COVID-19, as opposed to the more varied nature and symptoms of other illnesses. These findings sparked my interest even further, prompting me to explore the experiences of frontline care workers in greater depth.

Additionally, I had a call with my mentor, Mr. Lukaszewski, to discuss my upcoming first week at the American Academy of Ophthalmology. We deliberated on the research we’ll be conducting, focusing on how financial strain can impact physicians and potentially contribute to burnout. I’m looking forward to doing more research on this topic during my internship.

More updates next week!

Ava Farboudmanesch 🙂

Amanullah, Shabbir, and Rashmi Ramesh Shankar. “The Impact of Covid-19 on Physician Burnout Globally: A Review.” MDPI, Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 22 Oct. 2020, www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/8/4/421.