As we see the demands for medical care increase, especially with a population of aging baby boomers who are living longer with more chronic and complex conditions, we can anticipate a significant shortage of both primary care and specialist physicians.  There are many contributory reasons to this situation, but one of the most important root causes is physician burnout.  It has been well documented that burnout can shorten the careers, effectiveness, and health of physicians and has major impact on outcomes, safety, costs, and access to care for patients and, ultimately, is a tremendous drain on our country.

There has been considerable attention focused on understanding physician wellness and burnout, with the goal of building an evidence based approach to the problem in the spectrum of practice settings and specialties that may have both common and unique features.  Most of the work that has been done reflects the global issues affecting all physicians with minimal understanding of the differences in cause, impact, and intervention between male and female physicians.

The evolving physician workforce is divided equally, with half of matriculating medical students being women.  There is evidence that female medical students and physicians experience higher rates of suicide than males as well as higher rates of depression and burnout, all significantly higher than those for the general population.  There are many potential causes assumed to contribute to the predisposition, including genetic factors, perceived professional stature, pay scale inequities, and the rigors and expectations associated with parental and familial responsibilities.

The purpose of this RFP will be to help identify the incidence, causes, and effective approaches to intervention for burnout in female physicians at every stage of professional development, work setting, and specialty.  The goal of this RFP is to support research on interventions to decrease burnout and enhance professional career satisfaction at every stage of professional development, work setting, and specialty.

Organizations with a current active grant from The Physicians Foundation are not eligible to apply. Applicants must be tax exempt 501(c)(3) organizations located in the United States.

Proposals should be submitted through the online application system and are due by Friday, December 15, 2017.

For more information, please see the full RFP here.