PhD Thesis: burnout among Dutch medical residents

Medical residents (postgraduate trainees in a medical specialty) fulfil an important role in the Dutch health care system. They take their share of the responsibility for efficient patient care in hospitals, mental health care centres, rehabilitation centres and other medical institutions. Medical residents see the period of postgraduate training as a phase in which finding a balance between training, work and private life plays an important part. Not much was known about the extent to which the stress felt by residents causes them to develop symptoms of burnout. It was also unknown which factors determine the actual development of burnout. The research which was carried out therefore revolved around the incidence of burnout among medical residents in the Netherlands. It also looked into the potential risk-heightening or risklowering effects of a number of demographic and workrelated factors. The aims of the studies were the following: