Foundation doctors, transitions and emotions
What were the key findings?
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The research identified the emotional pressures foundation doctors in this study operated under. And the strategies they used to manage and regulate their emotions.
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Most of the negative emotions experienced were anxiety related, rather than sadness or anger.
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Two common patterns were identified. Suppression of emotions during an event and expression afterwards, and expression during and regret afterwards.
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The research suggests that outwardly expressing emotions in the workplace was viewed negatively by foundation year doctors and inward suppression as desirable.
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Some of the strategies doctors used to manage their emotions have the potential to negatively impact on their own health and patient care.
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The report suggested that foundation doctors may have limited understanding of how to manage their emotions in the workplace healthily.
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The research found that the workplace environment and team in which foundation doctors work were factors which affected whether doctors were able to manage their emotions in a healthy way
Why did we commission this research?
Research published in 2014 How prepared are UK medical graduates for practice? discussed how foundation year 1 doctors felt unprepared for their own emotional response to the challenges of the role. But it found that this aspect was poorly understood. We commissioned this follow-on study to find out how foundation doctors manage their emotions in challenging clinical situations.
What did the research involve?
As the research questions were exploratory, the study adopted a qualitative approach using audio diaries and interviews. As this was a qualitative study the sampling strategy was not designed to be representative of the wider population.
