Decreasing Physician Burnout With Professional Coaching

The goal of this randomized control trial is to learn if professional coaching can help reduce physician burnout among physicians at UCLA. The main aims of the study are:

• To reduce burnout among physicians with professional coaching
• Improve work satisfaction and engagement, sense of self-efficacy and social support with professional coaching
• Determine the efficacy of one-on-one professional coaching and small group professional coaching combined with behavioral interventions/activities in reducing physician burnout and comparing these groups to one another and to a delayed-entry (control) group

Participants will be randomly assigned into one of three groups:

• Intervention Group 1: One-on-one coaching (N=30). Six one-on-one coaching sessions via Zoom with one of two private professional coaches every other week for 3-4 months.
• Intervention Group 2: Coach-facilitated group sessions and coach-guided activities/behavioral interventions (N=30). Six small-group coaching sessions via Zoom with one of two private professional coaches and three physician participants in each group, every other week for 3-4 months.
• Delayed-Entry Group 3 (N=30): No intervention during duration of study period. Note: once participation in the pilot study has been completed for Groups 1 and 2, physicians participating in Group 3 will be offered to participate in six one-on-one sessions with a private professional coach over a 3-4 month period.

Participants will complete several surveys that assess for burnout, work engagement and satisfaction, sense of social support and isolation, and areas of worklife) before the start, upon completion of the intervention and again at 6 months upon completion of the sessions for the delayed-entry group.

Each group also received coach-guided activities/behavioral interventions during coaching sessions. These activities will be sent by coaches to participates throughout the 3 month period and include, but are not limited to: Wheel of Life, visioning exercise, one page miracle: core values, purpose, and goals, buckets and mental models.