Physician, heal thyself: Survey of users of the Quebec Physicians Health Program.

Objective: To document the opinions of the users of the Quebec Physicians Health Program (QPHP) about the services they received.

Design: Mailed questionnaire.

Setting: Quebec.

Participants: A total of 126 physicians who used QPHP services between 1999 and 2004.

Main Outcome Measures: Users' overall rating of the QPHP services, their opinions about the program, and whether their situations improved as a result of accessing QPHP services.

Results: Ninety-two of the 126 physicians surveyed returned their completed questionnaires, providing a response rate of 73%. Most respondents thought that the QPHP services were good or excellent (90%), most would use the program again (86%) or recommend it (96%), and most thought the Quebec physician associations and the Collège des médecins du Québec should continue funding the QPHP (97%). Most respondents thought the service confidentiality was excellent (84%), as was staff professionalism (82%), and 62% thought the quality of the services they were referred to was excellent. However, only 57% believed their situations had improved with the help of the QPHP.

Conclusion: The QPHP received good marks from its users. Given the effects of physician burnout on patients and on the health care system, it is not only a personal problem, but also a collective problem. Thus, actions are needed not only to set up programs like the QPHP for those suffering from burnout, but also to prevent these types of problems. Because family physicians are likely to be the first ones consulted by their physician patients in distress, they play a key role in acknowledging these problems and referring those colleagues to the appropriate help programs when needed.