RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 6 Flexible, fair, and transparent roster planning considering physician well-being and training opportunities enhances junior doctor job satisfaction and patient safety JF BMJ Open Quality JO BMJ Open Qual FD British Medical Journal Publishing Group SP A3 OP A4 DO 10.1136/bmjoq-2023-ISS.6 VO 12 IS Suppl 1 A1 Engelbrecht Jensen, Line YR 2023 UL http://bmjopenquality.bmj.com/content/12/Suppl_1/A3.2.abstract AB Introduction Junior doctors undergoing formal postgraduate medical education are generally content with their jobs and eager to engage in continuous medical training to become skilled professionals.1 They do, on the other hand, also have private lives with children and household, personal interests, health issues, and other obligations.2 Roster planning plays an important role for junior doctors’ educational opportunities, working patterns and over-all job and life satisfaction, and this should be kept in mind when planning, considering the well-known link between physician well-being and patient safety.3 4 The aim of this study was to identify and explore key elements in roster planning and how roster planning influences postgraduate medical education, working environment and well-being of junior doctors working in a Danish surgical department.Methods We conducted individual semi-structured interviews building on dialog-based knowledge generation theory.5 A total of six semi-structured interviews with three junior doctors (at different training levels) and three rostering stakeholders (senior consultant responsible for rosters; administrative rota coordinator; and regional head of workforce management). Themes were generated through an epistemological inductive approach and analysed in a social constructivist scientific theory framework.6 Results When analysing the interviews, five main themes in relation to roster planning for junior doctors in training emerged: 1) Work-life balance; 2) Flexibility, cooperation, and trust; 3) Fairness; 4) Medical education; and 5) Power. Working as a physician sometimes means considerable physical and mental strain and entails deprivation of family time and social engagements. However, junior doctors perceive their clinical work as extremely meaningful; and this largely makes up for the personal sacrifices. Fairness in allocation of training opportunities, inconvenient hours, etc. is very important, but they are very prone to demonstrating flexibility and collegiality if planning is carried out with transparency, involvement, and reciprocal flexibility. It enhances well-being and job satisfaction among junior doctors when there is an overall focus on a good learning culture and when education is actively incorporated in the roster, e.g., fairness in training opportunities and planned supervision. It may be difficult for junior doctors to navigate the planning process, as hierarchy and power structures in Danish hospital departments can be vague and opaque. The current educational counsellor system is believed to be flawed compared with classic staff management structures.Job satisfaction, well-being, and flexibility of junior doctors in training is enhanced if roster planning is carried out with an eye for their well-being, working conditions and continuous training. This entails transparent leadership and management and carrying out roster planning with involvement, trust, and cooperation.ReferencesSurman G, Lambert TW, Goldacre M. Doctors’ enjoyment of their work and satisfaction with time available for leisure: UK time trend questionnaire-based study. Postgraduate Medical Journal 2016;92:194-200.Rich A, Viney R, Needleman S, et al. ‘You can’t be a person and a doctor’: the work–life balance of doctors in training—a qualitative study. BMJ Open. 2016;6:e013897. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2016-013897Petrovic S et al. Personnel scheduling considering employee well-being: insights from case studies. Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on the Practice and Theory of Automated Timetabling - PATAT 2021: Volume IOECD Health Working Paper No. 130 The Economics of Patient Safety Part IV: Safety in the Workplace Occupational safety as the bedrock of resilient health systemsSteinar Kvale og Svend Brinkmann, InterView – Introduktion til et håndværk, 2. udg., 3. oplag 2010, Hans Reitzels Forlag 2009Liv Egholm, Videnskabsteori – perspektiver på organisationer og samfund, Hans Reitzels Forlag 2014