Winter 2022 (Volume 32, Number 4)
Report from the Human Resources Committee
By Claire Barber, MD, PhD, FRCPC;
Hengameh Kheirkhah, MD; Nicole Hartfeld, MC, MSc;
Jessica Widdifield, PhD; and Dana Jerome, MD, MEd, FRCPC
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The recent Canadian Rheumatology Association’s
(CRA) Workforce and Wellness survey1 highlighted
several challenges in our workforce which threaten
optimal rheumatology care delivery including i) a national
deficit of full-time equivalent (FTE) rheumatologists
to meet the benchmark of
1 rheumatologist per population
of 75,000; ii) high numbers of retirements in the
next 5-10 years; and iii) over half of the respondents reported
burnout. While the survey was conducted over the
pandemic, which could have contributed to the high rates
of burnout, other studies have also reported high rates of
burnout in rheumatologists pre-pandemic.2
Beyond the personal impact of burnout, high rates of
burnout can impact the workforce in many ways including
impacts on the quality of care provided as well as
productivity, job turnover, and early retirement.3 Physician
burnout is a public health problem. To address this,
the Human Resources Committee is developing recommendations
about what strategies may be most effective
to address burnout in rheumatologists. For this work, we
have conducted a systematic review of published systematic
reviews on interventions to address physician burnout
based on Cochrane guidance. This work has been led by
Dr. Hengameh Kheirkhah and Registered Provisional
Psychologist Nicole Hartfeld, and has been submitted to
the CRA Annual Scientific Meeting. This endeavor will be
supplemented by a review of resources currently available
either provincially or nationally to manage physician
burnout. The Human Resources Committee will then
review available resources and evidence to make recommendations
about effective potential strategies to address
rheumatologist burnout and identify areas in need of future
research. This work will be finalized over the fall and
winter months, and results will be shared with the broader
CRA community when available through social media,
a publication, and on the Human Resources website.
If you or a colleague needs help, please review physician
support services available at cma.ca/supportline.
Claire Barber, MD, PhD, FRCPC
Associate Professor,
Departments of Medicine and Community Health Sciences,
Cumming School of Medicine,
University of Calgary
Calgary, Alberta
Hengameh Kheirkhah, MD
Rheumatology Resident, Department of Medicine,
Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary
Calgary, Alberta
Nicole Hartfeld, MC, MSc
Department of Medicine, Cumming School of Medicine,
University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
Jessica Widdifield, PhD
Scientist, Sunnybrook Research Institute, ICES
Associate Professor, University of Toronto,
Institute of Health Policy, Management & Evaluation
Toronto, Ontario
Dana Jerome, MD, MEd, FRCPC
Chair, CRA Human Resources Committee
Program Director, Rheumatology Training Program
Assistant Professor of Medicine,
University of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario
References:
1. Kulhawy-Wibe SC, Widdifield J, Lee JJY, et al. Results From the 2020 Canadian Rheumatology
Association's Workforce and Wellness Survey. J Rheumatol. 2022;49(6):635-643.
2. Tiwari V, Kavanaugh A, Martin G, Bergman M. High Burden of Burnout on Rheumatology Practitioners.
J Rheumatol. 2020;47(12):1831-1834.
3. Patel RS, Bachu R, Adikey A, et al. Factors Related to Physician Burnout and Its Consequences: A
Review. Behav Sci (Basel). 2018;8(11).
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