Conceptual Framework
The conceptual framework of the study is based on the Job Demands-Resources model (30). In this model every job has its own specific risk factors which are classified as job demands and job resources.
Job demands are psychological, physical, social or organizational aspects of the job which require sustained physical and/or psychological effort or skills and are therefore associated with certain physiological and/or psychological costs.
Job resources refer to physical, psychological, social or organizational aspects of the job that function in achieving work goals, reduce job demands and the associated psychological and physical costs and/or stimulate personal growth and development. These resources may be located at the level of the organization (e.g., salary, career opportunities, job security), interpersonal and social relations (work support groups, work team dynamics), work organization (role clarity), or the level of the task (autonomy, performance feedback).
In general, job resources and job demands are antagonistic. Job demands, such as high work pressure and emotionally demanding interactions, would necessitate mobilisation of job resources. Recent publications have shown that personal resources as well have an antagonistic role to job demands and hence should be categorized as job resources (31-33). An individual possessing sufficient resources to support the demands of a job is engaged and not emotionally strained. But when resources are lacking, the individual is at risk of developing emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced work efficacy which are a prelude to burnout (30, 34).
Resources measured in this study, which can be invoked by medical students to parry the intense demands of medical school, are grit, religiosity, social support and comfort with uncertainty. Grit is defined as passion and sustained persistence applied toward long-term achievement (23, 35). Religiosity is defined as the adherence to beliefs, doctrines, ethics, rituals, texts, traditions, and practices related to a higher power and associated with an organized group (36). Social support is the perception of the quality of emotional support provided by others (37). TFA is defined as the degree to which an individual is comfortable operating under conditions of uncertainty, unpredictability, conflicting directions and multiple demands (38).
Methodology /Student Survey
A study of the class of 2021 students at Duke-NUS Medical School during year 1 was conducted using survey methodology. Duke-NUS Medical School is an American style, graduate-entry, allopathic medical school in Singapore. The panel survey consisted of demographic questions with questionnaires measuring the four job resources of grit, religiosity, social support and TFA, as well as symptoms of burnout.
Burnout was measured using the validated Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey (MBI-SS), which has become the gold-standard for defining burnout, especially amongst medical students (17, 39-41). The MBI-SS uses three different subscales: Emotional Exhaustion, Cynicism and Personal Inefficacy with a high score on any of these sub-scales indicating burnout (2). Grit was measured by a 12-item Grit scale (35). An uncorrected score of 60 indicates that an individual is extremely gritty while the lowest score on the scale indicates that the individual is not gritty at all (23). Religiosity was measured using the Duke University Religion Index (DUREL), which is a five-item scale made up of three dimensions: intrinsic religiosity (3 items), organizational religiosity (1 item), and non-organizational religiosity (1 item), measured on a 5-point Likert scale (42). The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MPSS) was used to measure the availability of social support an individual perceives they are receiving from the family, friends and a significant other (43). TFA was measured by a seven-item TFA scale (TAS). The TAS measures the student’s ability to cope with situations of uncertainty. Students ranked their responses to the 7 items on the TAS on a 6 response Likert scale. Scores ranged from 7 (lowest tolerance for ambiguity) to 42 (highest tolerance for ambiguity) (44).
The survey was created on an online platform, and a link to the survey was sent out to the Duke-NUS medical school mailing list. The first sampling point (T1) was from 22nd August – 5th September 2017, at which time all 4 job resources and burnout were surveyed. For the next three sampling points, 1st November – 10th November 2017 (T2), 1st February – 10th February 2018 (T3), and 1st May – 10th May 2018 (T4), only burnout was surveyed. Students indicated their consent electronically before attempting the survey. The study was approved by the National University of Singapore Institutional Review Board.
Statistical Analysis
Baseline characteristics were summarized using the mean and standard deviation (SD) for burnout and the job resources (grit, religiosity, social support and TFA). To assess the internal consistency of responses, Cronbach’s alpha was calculated for each scale (or subscale in the case of burnout). Summary statistics of survey instruments are reported for all responders in terms of numbers and percentages or mean scores and standard deviations, as appropriate.
Univariate logistic regression analysis was conducted on grit, religiosity, social support, and TFA to assess protective associations against burnout. For the purpose of this study, a student was considered as experiencing burnout if they scored high on both the emotional exhaustion and cynicism sub-scales of the MBI-SS, as used by several recent studies (24, 45, 46) . A student that did not register high on both of these sub-scales was scored as ‘NO BURNOUT’. To address the first research objective, the resources of grit, religiosity, social support and TFA were compared between students who did not experience burnout to those who reported burnout at least once during the year. Results were summarized as odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) reflecting the protective effect for NO BURNOUT. Predictive capabilities of resources demonstrating statistically significant protective effects against burnout (NO BURNOUT) were summarized using a Receiving Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve and negative (NPV) and positive predictive value (PPV) with a statistically optimal cut-point indicated by the Youden J-statistic. All statistical analyses were performed with SAS version 9.4. Statistical significance was set at P <0.05.