Where’s the Evidence for Physician Coaching?

The evidence for physician coaching (the coaching of medics and other clinicians) is increasingly recognised. Recent published literature has looked at the criteria most pertinent to coaching for medical professions setting out the key areas for a coach to support. They should come as no surprise to practicing clinicians nor to any good coach versed in the challenges of clinical and academic medicine and in our various healthcare sectors and systems. The review is useful in that it emphasises the forward-facing characteristics of the coaching intervention contrasting with psychotherapy. Both interventions rely on a high-quality relationship between practitioner and client but the primary aim of coaching is forward looking unlike psychotherapy which is aimed at relieving psychological distress due to past events.

“Physician coaching aims to address physicians’ career development needs. Thus, coaching takes a present- and future-focused approach to extracting learning from life’s challenges that can be applied to the pursuit of a desired future state”

Enhanced training for a future medical workforce: why we need to look outside of convention to build the medical workforce of the future

Dealing with uncertainty and setback is common in medical practice. In recent years the impact of the pandemic has increased levels of moral injury and burnout in a profession which was already struggling to cope with workload and increasing volume demand.

There is a growing and convincing evidence base for coaching as an effective intervention to bring about sustained benefit to physicians, improving burnout and increasing sustainability in medical careers. Medical schools prepare doctors for the knowledge and technical skills for practice but have been slower to come to the realisation that the competencies that drive improved relations with families and patients and increase their clinical leadership skills are likely to come from a behavioural repertoire linked to emotional social intelligence

There have been interesting developments in neuroscience underpinning some of these theories and some specific interventions like Enhanced Stress Resilience Training is already embedded in several postgraduate training programmes in the US.

What strikes me most is the crossover between the Somatic Intelligence narrative of Integral Coaching and the neuroscientific basis of behavioural change highlighted by the ESRT research and some of the more recent studies by Boyatzis and colleagues.

At such an exciting time to be involved in the coaching of doctors, I hope the profession as a whole can embrace a different approach to professional support which has an evidence base at least as robust as for some of the treatments we offer our patients!

Selected references of interest

Boyatzis, Richard et al. Competencies of Coaches that predict client behaviour change. Journal of Applied Behavioural Science 2024, Vol. 60(1) 19–49.

Boyatzis R E, Goleman D, Dhar U, Osiri JK. Thrive and survive: assessing personal sustainability. Consulting Psychology Journal; Practice and Research 2021 Vol 73No.1. 27-50.

Brazeau CMLR, Trockel MT, Swensen SJ, Shanafelt TD. Designing and building a portfolio
of individual support re- sources for physicians. Acad Med. 2023;98(10):1113-1119.

Dyrbye, L. N et al. Effect of a professional coaching intervention on the well-being and distress of physicians. JAMA Internal Medicine, 2019. 179(10), 1406–1413.

Goleman, D. Emotional Intelligence. Why it can matter more than IQ. 25th Anniversary Edition published 2020, Bloomsbury.

Grant AM, Green RM. Developing clarity on the coaching- counselling conundrum: implications for counsellors and psychotherapists. Counselling Psychother Res. 2018;18(4):347-355.

Gurland B. Mindfulness-Based Training Improves Technical Skills and Emotional Regulation for Surgical Residents. JAMA Netw Open. 2019;2(5).

Passerelli, Angela M et al. Competencies for Those Who Coach Physicians: A Modified Delphi
Study Mayo Clin Proc. n May 2024;99(5):782-794.

Quinn, J. F. (2015). The effect of vision and compassion upon role factors in physician leader- ship. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 442.