Burnout and association with resident performance as assessed by Pediatric Milestones: An exploratory study

Prior work demonstrating that burnout is associated with decreased performance in medical trainees has relied on self-report and/or single-site studies. We explored the relationship between burnout status and Milestones-based scores in pediatric residents nationally. In April to June 2016, we confidentially surveyed residents using the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Separately, programs submitted resident Milestones scores in June 2016. We examined the relationship between burnout and performance as assessed by Milestones scores for each domain of competence. We performed multivariate analysis to determine which components of burnout (depersonalization [DP], emotional exhaustion, and lack of personal accomplishment [PA]) were most impactful. Burnout is associated with decreased Milestones performance for pediatric PGY1 residents. DP and low PA were associated with lower PC scores in PGY1 residents. Future research should address whether strategies to mitigate burnout improve PGY1 performance.