In this article, we examine the updated evidence base for physician coaching and wellbeing (as of 2025), how to find a good coach, and how to tell if they’re right for you. Coaching programs have a growing evidence base in resident burnout prevention, in addition to well-established effects of increasing physician and patient satisfaction, productivity, and revenue.
We also note a caveat around the need for systemic change – a white coat revolution if you will – to address the underlying toxicity of modern medicine causing so much physician distress, burnout, and moral injury.
Dr. Sarah Johnson, a family physician in a busy urban practice, found herself struggling with burnout. She started noticing that she was tired all the time, and her compassion for helping others — the reason why she became a physician — started fading.
Long hours, administrative burdens, and the emotional toll of patient care left her feeling exhausted and disconnected. Seeking a solution, she turned to physician coaching.
After six months of working with a coach, Dr. Johnson reported significant improvements in her emotional well-being and job satisfaction. She learned strategies to manage stress, set boundaries, and prioritize self-care, which transformed her professional and personal life.
Coaching is a professional relationship that supports individuals in achieving their personal and professional goals. Unlike mentoring or teaching, coaching focuses on empowering the individual to find their own solutions through guided self-discovery. Coaches use techniques such as active listening, powerful questioning, and goal-setting to help clients identify their strengths, overcome challenges, and make meaningful changes in their lives.
For physicians, coaching can be particularly beneficial due to the unique pressures and demands of their profession. It provides a safe space to explore personal and career-related issues, such as work-life balance, leadership development, and managing stress. Coaching helps physicians to:
In essence, coaching equips physicians with the tools and mindset needed to navigate the complexities of their profession while maintaining personal fulfillment and well-being.
While both coaching and therapy can be beneficial, they serve different purposes and offer distinct advantages, particularly for physicians.
Coaching:
Therapy:
In summary, coaching is ideal for physicians looking to enhance their professional skills, manage stress, and achieve specific goals, while therapy is better suited for those needing to address deeper psychological issues and heal from past traumas. Both can be valuable tools in supporting physician well-being, depending on the individual’s needs and circumstances.
A novel online coaching program for female residents demonstrated significant improvements in reduced emotional exhaustion and imposter syndrome scores and increased self-compassion scores.
Professional coaching has been around for decades for the business and sporting worlds. Unsurprisingly, coaching translates well to medicine and positively impacts burnout and other important metrics.
Recent studies have further confirmed the positive impact of coaching on physician wellbeing. A systematic review published in 2023 by Boet et al. in PLoS One examined the effect of coaching on physician wellness, distress, and burnout. The review included 14 studies with 1099 participants and found that all quantitative studies reported effectiveness for at least one outcome assessed. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) suggest that coaching can improve well-being and reduce distress and burnout (Boet et al., 2023).
A 2024 RCT by Kiser et al. in JAMA Network Open explored the impact of individualized coaching by professionally trained peers on physician burnout and well-being. The study involved 138 physicians and found significant improvements in burnout, interpersonal disengagement, professional fulfillment, and work engagement after three months of coaching (Kiser et al., 2024).
Additionally, a 2023 randomized trial by Fainstad et al. in The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine assessed the impact of an online group-coaching program on ambulatory faculty physician well-being. The study showed improvements in de-personalization, imposter syndrome, and flourishing among participants (Fainstad et al., 2023).
A 2019 JAMA article demonstrated the benefits of physician coaching: it decreases emotional exhaustion and burnout out while increasing resilience and quality of life. This RCT of 88 physicians across multiple US sites examined the effects of 6 coaching sessions delivered by a professional coach.
All of these outcome measures significantly improved:
(whereas no statistically significant difference was found for measures of de-personalization, job satisfaction, meaning, or engagement).
Other studies show similar results: researchers implemented a 6-month, web-based group-coaching program, Better Together Physician Coaching, developed and facilitated by trained life coaches and physicians.
Reported in a 2022 JAMA paper, a novel online coaching program for female residents demonstrated significant improvements in reduced emotional exhaustion and imposter syndrome scores and increased self-compassion scores.
Nevertheless, coaching is not going to solve the systemic toxicity leading to burnout.
Despite these promising results, it’s important to recognize that coaching alone cannot address the systemic toxicity leading to physician burnout. As noted in the 2019 study by Dyrbye et al., there is a risk of interpreting physician burnout as a personal failure that can be remedied by coaching alone (Dyrbye et al., 2019).
Systemic changes are necessary to create a healthier work environment for physicians.
Until these are solved, we need to skill up with self-awareness; engage our neuroplasticity into new ways of thinking; and find new pathways in our lives and careers that maybe we hadn’t thought of before.
That’s where coaching really shines.
Until the systemic issues are solved, we need to skill up with self-awareness; engage our neuroplasticity into new ways of thinking; and find new pathways in our lives and careers that maybe we hadn’t thought of before.
A Google Search for “physician coaching” turned up over 22 MILLION results. Where does the busy physician begin looking? What criteria do I use to ensure quality? There are a number of high-quality coaches and mentors out there, most of whom now offer online coaching (how COVID has changed the world). So geography is less of an issue, but quality and connection are essential.
The good news is that Physicians Anonymous has since 2022 curated a high-quality directory of carefully chosen, vetted, and approved coaches for our members.
We scrutinized their resumes and interviewed each one.
Fewer than 10% of applicants join our Physicians Anonymous Approved Coaches Directory.
Each coach must have a coaching qualification, experience, and adhere to their qualifying organization’s code of ethics.
We are considering adding other professionals — therapists and physicians with expertise in physician health — to our database.
When selecting a coach, consider their qualifications, years of experience, and whether they specialize in your area of need. It’s also important to decide if you prefer a coach who is a qualified MD, who can provide an insider’s perspective, or a non-physician coach who might offer an external viewpoint.
Firstly, are they qualified with a reputable Coaching accreditor?
How many years experience do they have as a coach? Physician?
Are they specialists in your area of need? Is their medical specialty relevant?
Are they a qualified MD so that they can understand from the inside?
Or is it important that they are not a doctor so that they can give perspectives from outside the system? Would their experience outside of medicine add value?
Furthermore, we know from psychology literature that the number one predictor of therapeutic effectiveness is the therapist-patient relationship. There must be trust, mutual respect, and good communication.
But mostly it’s about trust.
Physician coaching with an accredited and experienced coach helps physicians to move past burnout to create balance, well-being, and career fulfillment.
We have demonstrated the evidence base for resident burnout prevention programs in reducing emotional exhaustion and improving physician satisfaction.
If you are interested in accessing a Physicians Anonymous approved coach, please check out our carefully selected, experienced, wise, and values-aligned coaches here.
