Intention to Leave Emergency Medicine: Mid-career Women Are at Increased Risk

Area of Science:

• Medical Specialties
• Physician Well-being
• Emergency Medicine

Background:

• Burnout is a significant issue for emergency physicians (EPs).
• Physician burnout can lead to consideration of leaving emergency medicine (EM).
• Understanding gender-specific factors in physician burnout and retention is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate gender differences in burnout and intent to leave EM.
• To identify factors contributing to burnout among EPs.
• To explore retention challenges within the EM specialty.

Main Methods:

• Secondary analysis of the 2014 American Board of Emergency Medicine Longitudinal Survey of Emergency Physicians.
• Multiple logistic regression used to identify factors associated with considering leaving EM.
• Analyses stratified by years in practice and adjusted for demographic and professional factors.

Main Results:

• No overall significant gender difference in reporting intent to leave EM.
• Mid-career women demonstrated a seven-fold increased odds of considering leaving EM compared to mid-career men.
• Factors associated with lower intent to leave included work autonomy, control, fair compensation, personal reward, and ownership.

Conclusions:

• The overall prevalence of considering leaving EM does not differ significantly by gender.
• Mid-career women in EM report a higher likelihood of considering leaving the specialty.
• Further research is warranted to address the specific factors impacting mid-career women in EM.