A Study on The Effects of Traumatic Experiences on the Emotional Well-Being of Doctors in Basilan

Abstract

The researcher conducted a descriptive study on the effects of traumatic experiences on the emotional well-being of doctors. The objectives of the study were to know the experiences that doctors consider as traumatic during the course of their medical practice and to determine the effects of these experiences on their emotional well-being. The study used a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods of research. It was conducted using a self-administered survey-type questionnaire among doctors. The questionnaire was designed in three parts, as follows: (I) Demographic Profile, (II) Symptoms of Emotional Trauma - composed of statements which reflect the degree of impact of the adverse event on the respondent, and (III) Different Coping Styles which contained statements that determine how the respondents dealt with the adverse event they were faced with. After which, a follow up set of open-ended questions was distributed to the reference population to have a more in-depth data regarding the topic of the study. Also, a one-on-one interview with the president of the Philippine Medical Association, Basilan Chapter was conducted by the researcher. After the data collection and analysis, the researcher found out that the respondents consider several events as traumatic during their medical practice, but the death of a patient has the highest percentage (22%) among them. Doctors experience physical and emotional symptoms as well as a reliving of the trauma. Also, the most apparent coping style was emotion- fbcused. Stress was considered as the major factor for such experience to have an effect on their emotional well-being.