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Burnout among faculty physicians in an academic health science centre
James Gardner Wright1, Nicole Khetani, Derek Stephens
1Perioperative Services;
Insights
Physician burnout is prevalent, with up to 22% experiencing symptoms. Addressing quantitative demands, job satisfaction, and work insecurity is key, as reducing work hours alone may not solve physician burnout.
Area of Science:
- Medical Science
- Occupational Health
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Physician burnout poses a significant risk to the quality of patient care.
- Understanding the prevalence and contributing factors of burnout is crucial for academic health centers.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the frequency of burnout among physicians at an academic health science center.
- To investigate the relationship between work hours and burnout in physicians.
Main Methods:
- Anonymous questionnaire distributed to 300 staff physicians via personal email.
- Utilized the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory with personal, work-related, and patient-related subscales.
- Achieved a 70% response rate, with 210 physicians completing the survey.
Main Results:
- 22% of physicians reported personal burnout, 14% work-related burnout, and 8% patient-related burnout.
- Quantitative demands, job insecurity, and job satisfaction significantly impacted all burnout components.
- A weak correlation (0.10) was found between total work hours and total burnout.
Conclusions:
- A substantial percentage of academic physicians experience burnout, ranging from mild to severe.
- Reducing work hours alone is unlikely to effectively mitigate physician burnout.
- Addressing factors like quantitative demands, job satisfaction, and work insecurity is essential for managing burnout in academic physicians.
Background:
Burnout experienced by physicians is concerning because it may affect quality of care.
Objective:
To determine the frequency of burnout among physicians at an academic health science centre and to test the hypothesis that work hours are related to burnout.
Methods:
All 300 staff physicians, contacted through their personal e-mail, were provided an encrypted link to an anonymous questionnaire. The primary outcome measure, the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory, has three subscales: personal, work related and patient related.
Results:
The response rate for the questionnaire was 70%. Quantitative demands, insecurity at work and job satisfaction affected all three components of burnout. Of 210 staff physicians, 22% (n=46) had scores indicating personal burnout, 14% (n=30) had scores indicating work-related burnout and 8% (n=16) had scores indicating patient-related burnout. The correlation between total hours worked and total burnout was only 0.10 (P=0.14)
Discussion:
Up to 22% of academic paediatric physicians had scores consistent with mild to severe burnout. A simple reduction in work hours is unlikely to be successful in reducing burnout and, therefore, quantitative demands, job satisfaction and work insecurity may require attention to address burnout among academic physicians.
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