Measuring Differences in Wellbeing for Internal Medicine Educators and Administrators

May 2026

The Association Between Burnout and Considering To Resign Was Somewhat Strong Among Internal Medicine Residency and Fellowship Program Administrators

  • Source: 2026 APDIM Internal Medicine Residency and Fellowship Program Administration Annual Survey.
  • For 406 respondents who were able to answer the question, “In the past year, have you considered resigning from your position?” Results were statistically weight-adjusted to more closely represent the total survey population of 997.
  • Positive screen for burnout derived from Maslach, Christina and Susan E. Jackson. 1981. MBI-Human Services Survey. Published by Mind Garden, Inc., www.mindgarden.com.
  • Adjusted Wald (Pearson) Chi-Square test of association (1 degree of freedom) between “Screened positively for burnout” and “Considered to resign in past year;” p<0.001.

The Association Between Burnout and Considering To Resign Was Moderate Among Internal Medicine Residency Program Directors

  • Source: 2025 APDIM Annual Survey of Internal Medicine Residency Program Directors.
  • For 240 respondents who responded to the question, “In the past year, have you considered resigning from your position?” Results were statistically weight-adjusted to more closely represent the total survey population of 497.
  • Positive screen for burnout derived from Maslach, Christina and Susan E. Jackson. 1981. MBI-Human Services Survey. Published by Mind Garden, Inc., www.mindgarden.com.
  • Adjusted Wald (Pearson) Chi-Square test of association (1 degree of freedom) between “Screened positively for burnout” and “Considered to resign in past year;”: p<0.001.

The Association Between Burnout and Considering To Resign Was Moderate Among Internal Medicine Core Clerkship Directors

  • Source: 2025 CDIM Annual Survey of Internal Medicine Core Clerkship Directors.
  • For 112 respondents who responded to the question, “In the past year, have you considered resigning from your position?”
  • Positive screen for burnout derived from Maslach, Christina and Susan E. Jackson. 1981. MBI-Human Services Survey. Published by Mind Garden, Inc., www.mindgarden.com.
  • Fisher’s Exact Test (two-sided): p<0.001. Tests difference between “Screened positively for burnout” and “Considered to resign in past year.”

Among 106 residency and fellowship program administrators who screened positively for burnout in winter 2026, 92 (87%) considered resigning in the past year, compared to 120 of 300 (40%) who did not screen positively for burnout but considered resigning. Burnout and considering to resign were associated, but what do those differences reveal?

This month’s Data in Brief explores effect size, or how much of a difference there is between outcomes of interest, based on wellness items from three recent Alliance surveys. Tests for association explore whether relationships exist between variables such as survey responses; effect size describes the strength of those relationships. In the example above, the effect size was “0.55,” a somewhat strong association between screening for burnout and considering to resign.

Contact surveys@im.org if you have any questions about the results below or any of the annual surveys.

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