Measuring Burnout in Radiologic Science Educators

To determine whether radiologic science educators are experiencing burnout and to what perceived degree, and to identify the perceived factors most linked to their burnout.

The Maslach Burnout Toolkit for Educators was used to assess burnout in radiologic science educators according to 3 domains: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal achievement. Convenience sampling included participants from several radiologic science disciplines, including sonography, radiation therapy, radiography, nuclear medicine technology, and cardiac interventional radiography. A mean item score was calculated for each domain, and item scores in each domain were totaled to obtain a sum score. Results from the survey were compared with national educator norms for burnout.

Out of 360 participants, 265 (73.6%) completed the survey. A mean item score of 4.16 was calculated for the first domain, emotional exhaustion, with a sum score of 37.41, indicating a high level of burnout related to emotional exhaustion. Participants demonstrated a moderately high level of burnout associated with depersonalization, with a sum score of 12.09. In contrast, participants indicated a high level of personal accomplishment, with a sum score of 43.60, which corresponds to low levels of burnout.

Radiologic science educators indicated an overall higher perceived level of burnout when compared with national educator norms. Radiologic science educators exhibited higher levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. The increased level of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization might be due to clinical education requirements, clinical supervision, and rigor of course material. Based on the study data, there is moderate alignment in the areas of workload, control, reward, community, and values. However, there is a strong mismatch in the area of fairness. Based on data analysis, fairness might be linked to increased levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization in burnout.

The increased workload and work-life imbalance experienced by radiologic science educators might be related partially to technological invasion. The increasing use of technology and connectivity experienced by faculty has resulted in an increasing level of personal invasion by work responsibilities. Common results of increased technological invasion include perception of overload, work-home imbalance, reduced job satisfaction, decreased motivation, and decreased productivity. This invasion also has been shown to cause symptoms of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal achievement, the 3 aspects of burnout.