**Introduction:**
Burnout is a state of mental and physical exhaustion related to work or caregiving activities. Resident physicians are susceptible to developing burnout during training, due to various reasons. Burnout has been shown to lower resident performance in patient care, systems-based practice, problem-based learning and improvement, professionalism, and communication skills. Our objective was to assess rates of resident burnout and resident reported satisfaction related to their pediatric residency program at the national and local level from 2021-2023.
**Methods:**
A national survey was administered by the Association for Pediatric Program Directors late spring/early summer from 2021-2023 of pediatric residents assessing various components of well-being and potential drivers of it. The survey included questions about burnout, as well as work and program environments. For this analysis, we selected 4 components including resident burnout, perceived quality of work environment, mentoring, and education. We plotted trends in responses for the components to compare local and national percentages.
**Results:**
For the three years assessed, national response rates were 55%, 53%, and 59% while OU-Tulsa rates were 75%, 70.8%, and 62.5%. From 2021-2023 the percentage of residents experiencing burnout increased nationally (2021: 42%, 2022: 60%, 2023: 60%) whereas the percentage of OU-Tulsa residents varied across years (2021: 59%, 2022: 60%, 2023: 60%). The percentage of residents answering they were 'somewhat/very satisfied' with their overall work and learning environment decreased nationally (2021: 77.5%, 2022: 70%, 2023: 72.2%) and locally (2021: 82.4%, 2022: 66.74%, 2023: 53.3%). Similarly, the percentage of residents answering 'agree/strongly agree' about career mentoring provided by their program also decreased nationally (2021: 52.7%, 2022: 43.1%, 2023: 44%) and locally (2021: 41.2%, 2022: 40%, 2023: 6.7%). Finally, the percentage of residents answering 'agree/strongly agree' to resident education being a high priority in their program also decreased nationally (2021: 73.1%, 2022: 62.2%, 2023: 64.4%) and locally (2021: 88.2%, 2022: 93.3%, 2023: 46.7%).
**Conclusion:**
Our findings offer actionable areas for program improvement. Before 2023 results, formal inpatient capping was implemented allowing consistent delivery of supplementary inpatient education. This change was made after residents expressed interest in inpatient education regardless of hospital census. Over the next academic year at OU-Tulsa, measures will be taken to address these areas including a national collaboration focusing on providing skills and resources to enhance wellness, and local professional development opportunities for faculty regarding career mentoring. By addressing the quality of resident work environment, mentoring and education, we expect overall burnout to improve.
