M. R. Smeds1, M. Harlander-Locke2, H. K. Sandhu3, S. Allen4, K. Amankwah5, P. Ansari6, K. Charlton-Ouw3, D. Hess7, P. Jackson8, M. Johnson9, M. K. Kimbrough10, D. Knight11, G. M. Longo12, B. Shames13, J. Shelton14, P. Yoo15, M. Smeds1 1Saint Louis University School Of Medicine,Division Of Vascular And Endovascular Surgery,St. Louis, MO, USA 2Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine,Bradenton, FL, USA 3McGovern Medical School at UTHealth,Houston, TX, USA 4Penn State Hershey Medical Center,York, PA, USA 5State University Of New York Upstate Medical University,Syracuse, NY, USA 6Lenox Hill Hospital,New York, NY, USA 7Boston University,Boston, MA, USA 8Medstar Georgetown University Hospital,Washington, DC, USA 9University of South Dakota,Vermillion, SD, USA 10University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences,Little Rock, AR, USA 11Waterbury Hospital,Waterbury, CT, USA 12University Of Nebraska College Of Medicine,Omaha, NE, USA 13University of Connecticut School of Medicine,Farmington, CT, USA 14University Of Iowa,Iowa City, IA, USA 15Yale University School Of Medicine,New Haven, CT, USA
Introduction:
Burnout is a work-related syndrome involving emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a sense of reduced personal accomplishment that has become prevalent in all areas of medicine. We sought to understand factors associated with burnout in surgical faculty including self-efficacy, perceived stress, work-family relationship and depression.
Methods:
Anonymous electronic surveys consisting of demographic information as well as validated scales for burnout, depression, perceived stress, self-efficacy, social support, and work-family conflict were sent to all surgical faculty at 14 general surgery residency programs. Respondents were grouped into quartiles based on burnout level, and predictors of burnout were determined using univariate and multivariate analysis comparing those in the highest quartile to all others.
Results:
Of 731 invitations sent, 240 (33%) surgeons responded. Those in the highest quartile of burnout were younger (45.5 vs. 48.1, p=0.049), more likely to have higher perceived stress (p<0.001), work-family conflict (p<0.001), and moderate or severe depression (p<0.001) and lower perceived social support (p<0.001) and self-efficacy (p<0.001). Amount of educational debt, years out from training, gender, marital status, proximity of immediate family, and having children did not correlate with burnout, nor did work-related factors of frequency of call, number of hospitals covered, percent clinical involvement, number of cases performed per week, attainment of divisional/departmental leadership roles or overall compensation. On multivariate logistic regression analysis, higher perceived stress (OR 1.51, p<0.001), depression (OR 2.730, p=0.004), and work-family conflict (OR 1.2, p=0.012) were related to higher levels of burnout while self-efficacy was protective against burnout (OR 0.89, p=0.046). Those with the highest levels were unlikely to select surgery as a career if they could do it all over again (OR 0.093, p=0.001).
Conclusion:
Burnout in surgical faculty is associated with depression, high perceived stress, increased work-family conflict, and low self-efficacy. Improving work-family balance and self-efficacy and decreasing stress may improve levels of burnout in surgical faculty.