Burnout and career satisfaction among urologists specializing in sexual health

While the rate of physician burnout has been characterized as relatively high among urologists compared to other specialties, a specific examination of burnout and predictors of burnout among urologists specializing in sexual medicine has not been conducted.

The aim of this study was to collect demographic characteristics of urologists specializing in sexual medicine, assess the occurrence of and risk factors for burnout, and characterize satisfaction with career, compensation and work-life balance.

We surveyed 96 urologists specializing in sexual medicine to characterize demographic and practice characteristics and assess their satisfaction with career aspects and levels of burnout. Univariable and multivariable modeling with stepwise variable selection was utilized to identify predictive variables of burnout.

The Copenhagen Burnout Inventory was used to assess personal burnout, work-related burnout, patient-related burnout, and overall burnout.

Twenty-four percent (n = 23) of participants reported burnout with 35.4% (n = 34) reporting personal burnout, 38.5% (n = 37) reporting work-related burnout, and 24.0% (n = 23) reporting patient-related burnout. Younger age (P = 0.051), Black/African American or multiracial race compared to white race (P < 0.0001), Latino or Hispanic background (P = 0.034), female sex (P = 0.059), being unmarried (P = 0.047), and increased educational debt (0.030) were identified as predictive of overall burnout in adjusted analysis. Dissatisfaction with work-life balance was significantly related to an increase in all categories of burnout (P < 0.01).

These findings may guide practice patterns and initiatives to support groups identified at increased risk of burnout, as well as function as a benchmark for future studies of burnout in the sexual medicine urology community.

While this is the first study of burnout specifically among sexual medicine urologists and findings are consistent with the overall urology community, the small sample size may lead to a biased sample.

Several demographic and personal characteristics were identified to be predictive of burnout among the sexual medicine urology community, indicating opportunities for additional support.