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Work Related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Medicine Residents

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Abstract

Objective

This study sought to screen for the burden of work-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in internal medicine residents.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey of internal medicine residents from three academic institutions was conducted using the PCL-5 screening tool.

Results

Off all residents surveyed, 5.2% screened positive for PTSD symptoms (N = 194). 86.1% of all trainees identified stressors during training. Positive PTSD screens were significantly higher in PGY3 residents (X2 = 15.24, p = 0.0005). Of all PGY3 residents, 9.8% (N = 4) and 14.6% (N = 6) of residents screened positive for PTSD symptoms based on absolute and cluster score criteria, respectively. Verbal/physical assault by patients/families/colleagues were triggers for the most cases of positive screens.

Conclusions

Self-reported stressors are highly prevalent in internal medicine trainees. Verbal/physical assault by patients and families appear to be the triggering event for most positive screens. These observations will help with future study designs to quantify the burden of work related PTSD in internal medicine trainee physicians so that appropriate supportive measures can be provided.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Einstein Medical Center Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Lakshmi Kannan, Ajita Mathur & Janani Rangaswami

  2. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    David S. Wheeler

  3. University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Scott Blumhof

  4. Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Jonathan Gotfried

  5. Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, USA

    Allison Ferris

  6. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Elizabeth Hembree

  7. American College of Physicians, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Darilyn Moyer

Authors
  1. Lakshmi Kannan
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  2. David S. Wheeler
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  3. Scott Blumhof
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  4. Jonathan Gotfried
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  5. Allison Ferris
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  6. Ajita Mathur
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  7. Elizabeth Hembree
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  8. Darilyn Moyer
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  9. Janani Rangaswami
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Janani Rangaswami.

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On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

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Kannan, L., Wheeler, D.S., Blumhof, S. et al. Work Related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Medicine Residents. Acad Psychiatry 43, 167–170 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-018-0911-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-018-0911-9

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