No difference in benefit seen between small-group and one-on-one coaching<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter<\/b>
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TUESDAY, July 22, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Small-group professional coaching can reduce physician burnout rates by up to nearly 30 percent, according to a study published online July 11 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine<\/em>.<\/p>\n Joshua Khalili, M.D., from the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues assessed the effects of small-group and one-on-one professional coaching to decrease physician burnout and improve work life, work engagement, self-efficacy, and social support. The analysis included 79 internal medicine faculty attending physicians randomly assigned to six one-hour, virtual one-on-one or small-group professional coaching sessions rooted in positive psychological theory over four months or a waitlist control.<\/p>\n The researchers found that participants receiving small-group and one-on-one coaching experienced a 29.6 percent and 13.4 percent absolute reduction in the rate of burnout, respectively, compared with an 11.1 percent increase among control physicians (difference-in-differences, \u221240.7 and \u221225.0 percent, respectively). Between the two interventions, there was no significant difference in burnout reduction (\u221215.9 percent). Burnout remained stable in the small-group intervention after six months and continued to decrease in the one-on-one group, without further intervention.<\/p>\n “This new, small-group model of professional coaching can make a significant impact in physician burnout and costs much less than the one-on-one model,” Khalili said in a statement. “By improving physicians’ well-being, engagement, and sense of support, interventions like coaching can enhance the quality of care patients receive, making this a public health priority, not just a workplace issue.”<\/p>\n