Objective
We aimed to estimate the self-reported prevalence of burnout in chairs of academic
radiology departments in the United States and identify factors associated with high
burnout in chairs.
Materials and Methods
An anonymous cross-sectional online survey was conducted of members of the Society
of Chairs of Academic Radiology Departments. Burnout was measured using the abbreviated
Maslach Burnout Inventory Human Services Survey. Associations between survey participants’
characteristics and burnout were tested using Fisher's exact test and Wilcoxon rank
sum test.
Results
Of the 123 chairs invited to complete the survey, 87 responded (response rate, 71%).
The mean age of the participants was 58 years. The survey respondents had an average
of 9 years of experience as department chair. The average number of work hours per
week was 62 hours. Four participants (5%) of the academic chairs met all three criteria
for high burnout including high emotional exhaustion, high depersonalization, and
low personal accomplishment. Thirty-three participants (38%) had high emotional exhaustion
and/or high depersonalization score. Low professional satisfaction score, low work-life
balance satisfaction score, and low chair effectiveness score were significantly associated
with high burnout. High emotional exhaustion and/or high depersonalization were significantly
associated with numerous professional stressors. Lack of an institutional support
group for chairs and lower number of faculty members in the department were significantly
associated with burnout.
Conclusion
A significant proportion of chairs of academic radiology departments are experiencing
1 or more symptoms of burnout. Efforts to address burnout in radiology chairs should
be initiated promptly at the national, institutional, and departmental levels.
Key Words
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: January 10, 2019
Accepted:
December 5,
2018
Received in revised form:
December 3,
2018
Received:
October 31,
2018
Footnotes
Compliance with ethical standards: All the authors confirm that this manuscript complies with ethical standards. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.”
Informed consent: “Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.”
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 The Association of University Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
