Self-reported Burnout: Comparison of Radiologists to Nonradiologist Peers at a Large Academic Medical Center

Catherine S Giess; Ivan K Ip; Anu Gupte; Jessica C Dudley; Michael J Healey; Giles W Boland; Ramin Khorasani

doi:10.1016/j.acra.2020.10.013

Self-reported Burnout: Comparison of Radiologists to Nonradiologist Peers at a Large Academic Medical Center

Acad Radiol. 2022 Feb;29(2):277-283. doi: 10.1016/j.acra.2020.10.013. Epub 2020 Nov 7.

Authors

Catherine S Giess¹, Ivan K Ip², Anu Gupte³, Jessica C Dudley³, Michael J Healey³, Giles W Boland⁴, Ramin Khorasani⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115; Center for Evidence-Based Imaging, Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115. Electronic address: cgiess@bwh.harvard.edu.
² Center for Evidence-Based Imaging, Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115.
³ Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115.
⁴ Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115.
⁵ Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115; Center for Evidence-Based Imaging, Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115.

PMID: 33172814
DOI: 10.1016/j.acra.2020.10.013

Abstract

Rationale and objectives: Relatively little data exist on factors associated with radiologists' burnout versus other medical specialties. We compared self-reported burnout among academic medical center radiologists versus nonradiologist peers to inform initiatives to increase wellbeing and professional satisfaction.

Materials and methods: In 2017, our large urban academic medical center administered the Stanford Physician Wellness Survey to faculty in fifteen clinical departments (fourteen academic, one community-based). Faculty rated burnout via Likert scale (0-no burnout; 1-occasional stress/no burnout; 2-one or more burnout symptoms; 3-persistent burnout symptoms; 4-completely burned out); burnout defined as >=2. Responses in 11 domains (professional fulfillment, emotional exhaustion, interpersonal disengagement, sleep difficulties, self-compassion, negative work impact on personal relations, perceived appreciation, control over schedule, organizational/personal values alignment, electronic health record, perceived quality of supervisory leadership) compared radiologists versus nonradiologists for association with burnout, using Whitney-Mann U test to calculate Z scores.

Results: There was no significant difference in overall self-reported burnout between radiologists and nonradiologists, nor in self-rating for emotional exhaustion, interpersonal disengagement, self-compassion, control over schedule, organizational/personal values alignment, or electronic health record experience. Radiologists had significantly lower self-rating for work happiness (Z = -2.669, p = 0.0076), finding work meaningful (Z = -2.77351, p = 0.0055), perceiving physicians as highly valued (Z = -2.5486, p = 0.0108), and believing leadership treated them with respect and dignity (Z = -3.44149, p = 0.0006).

Conclusion: Compared to nonradiologist colleagues, radiologists were less likely to find work meaningful and more likely to feel unhappy and undervalued in the workplace and by leadership. Initiatives to increase perceived appreciation, leadership relationships, and meaningfulness of work for radiologists may reduce burnout.

Keywords: Burnout; Radiology; Wellness.

MeSH terms

Academic Medical Centers
Burnout, Professional*
Burnout, Psychological
Humans
Job Satisfaction
Radiologists
Self Report
Self-Compassion*
Surveys and Questionnaires