The Great Resignation: Recalibrating in Medical Education and Health Care

by Julie M. Hau, Ph.D., and Loren Deutsch, MA, MEd, LCSW

During the COVID-19 global pandemic, the Great Resignation rippled through the U.S., and approximately one in five healthcare workers quit their jobs (Yong, 2021). According to the International Journal of Hospitality and Journal of Clinical Anaesthesiology, this mass exodus disrupted society and had the greatest economic impact on hospitality, healthcare, and education sectors. The pandemic and subsequent shutdown were uncertain and stressful.

As Medical Coaches and Career Coaches at LAS, we observed how the pandemic induced fear and stress in our students and residents. We sometimes feared for their lives and worried whether they had the proper PPE and sufficient training. Many of our students and residents contracted COVID-19 and most contended with the challenges of treating patients who had COVID-19. Yet, day after day, they met those challenges and moved forward and we met with them and provided our coaching services.

At a time when medicine felt fraught with uncertainty, the LAS team met more frequently and devoted more time to one another. Our weekly team meetings shifted focus and incorporated more time to discuss personal well-being and physical health, raise questions, and express worries about the uncertainty and doubt surrounding all our lives. We knew there were no clear answers, but during our meetings, we gradually replaced the lack of clarity with greater certainty about how we support our medical students, residents, and faculty.

The LAS Coaching Model has always focused on the whole person, not just a learning goal or test preparation, and in some ways, the Great Resignation clarified its value. COVID shutdown and its aftermath underscored the importance of taking time to process our feelings. Emotions in learning, careers, and life are meant to be considered, not denied. COVID-19 and the Great Resignation accentuated why mental health matters and that personal well-being is not just a cliché, but an ongoing process.

Although COVID rattled the practice of medicine and altered medical education, it did not prevent healthcare employment from rebounding, though it may have deterred some students from entering medical school. Today, healthcare employment numbers exceed pre-pandemic levels, save for elder care and nursing facilities. However, medical schools have not fared as well (Finkel, 2024) and are contending with lower matriculation rates and lower adherence rates to mental health services based on the AAMC guidelines (Hale and Davis, 2023). Perhaps, we must be more sincere in our focus on mental health because of what we know about the Great Resignation. Mental health matters and can no longer be an addendum to education.

References

Chandra, A., & Heizlsperger, L-J. (2023). The great resignation, employment, and wages in health care. NEJM Catalyst Innovations in Care Delivery Doi: https://catalyst.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/CAT.23.0315

Hale, E. W., & Davis, R. A. (2023). Supporting the future of medicine: Student mental health services in medical school. Frontiers in health services, 3, 1032317. https://doi.org/10.3389/frhs.2023.1032317.

Kaye, A. D., MD, Ph.D., Okeagu, C. N., MD, Pham, A. D., MD, Silva, R. A., Hurley, J. J., MD, Aaron, B. L., MD, Sarfraz, N., MD, MPH, Lee, H. N., MD, Ghali, G., DDS, MD, FACS, FRCSEd, Gamble, J. W., Liu, H., MD, Urman, R. D., MD, & Cornett, E. M., PhD (2021). Economic impact of COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare facilities and systems: International perspectives. Best Practice & Research Clinical Anaesthesiology, 35(3), 293-306. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpa.2020.11.009

Liaison Committee on Medical Education. Functions and Structure of a Medical School: Standards for Accreditation of Medical Education Programs Leading to the MD Degree 2021-22 (2017). https://lcme.org/publications/#Standards (Accessed November 10, 2021).

Shapoval V, Hägglund P, Pizam A, et al. The COVID-19 pandemic effects on the hospitality industry using social systems theory: A multi-country comparison. Int J Hosp Manag. 2021;94:102813. doi:10.1016/j.ijhm.2020.102813

Yong, Ed (November 16, 2021). “Why Health-Care Workers Are Quitting in Droves”. The Atlantic. Retrieved April 30, 2024.