Prevalence of Burnout Among Cardiothoracic Radiologists

Abstract

Purpose: We investigated the impact of modality-specific volumes and other potential stressors on burnout and career-choice satisfaction. Materials and Methods: An anonymous survey of 36 questions was sent by email to all 875 faculty members of the STR. These included 11 multiple-choice questions, 23 Likert questions, and 2 free-text questions. The Maslach Burnout Index was used to assess the prevalence of the 3 components of burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and low professional accomplishment), and we assessed variations among the potential sources of stress with respect to the respondent sex, career stage, and practice setting. Respondents were asked to estimate daily work volume as if interpreting only chest radiographs (CXRs) or only chest/cardiac computed tomography (CT). Statistical analysis was performed using Excel (Microsoft), open-source statistical computing package pandas and SciPy for Python, and Jupyter Notebook, an open-source interactive computing platform. Results: Although financial concerns (49.3%), lack of input into decisions (48.6%), and inadequate staffing (45.2%) were additional stressors, the major sources were work-life balance (67.4%) and workload (66.8%), which were more frequently cited by women than men (78.9% vs. 60.8%, P=0.001). Emotional exhaustion and depersonalization were related to higher CXR volumes. Although 83.2% were satisfied being a diagnostic radiologist, 18.8% had thought of leaving medicine. More than half of all radiologists interpreted ≥150 CXRs daily (51.1% vs. 53.6%); more in private practice read ≥200 CXRs (23.2% vs. 14.7%). Of the academic radiologists, 80.2% interpreted 21 to 49 CTs; twice as many in private practice read ≥50 CTs (25.5% vs. 12.7%). Conclusions: The contributing factors to cardiothoracic radiologist burnout vary by sex, career stage, and practice setting. Several stressors, especially work-life balance, were associated with higher burnout prevalence. Most respondents expressed career-choice satisfaction. Defining threshold work volumes associated with higher rates of burnout is an important first step in defining burnout prevention guardrails.

Antimicrobial Resistance and Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase Genes in Enterobacterales, Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter Isolates from the Uterus of Healthy Mares

“…Data analysis was performed using Excel (Microsoft 365), open-source statistical computing package release 1.3.4; upset plots [50] were made employing the UpSetPlot package (https://github.com/jnothman/UpSetPlot, access on 25 April 2022), release 0.6.0.…”

Cardiothoracic Radiologist Workload, Work Capacity, and Burnout Post-COVID

“…For each statement pertaining to burnout, results were obtained for those agreeing or disagreeing with it or providing a neutral response. To allow comparison with the validated scoring methodology of Maslach et al, 6 EE, D, and LPA scores for our shortened series of questions were multiplied by conversion factors to bring them into the same score range as described in Eisenberg et al 4 The thresholds for EE, D, and perceived LPA were MBI subscale scores of 27 or higher, 10 or higher, and 33 or lower, respectively. 4 Statistical analysis was performed using Excel (Microsoft, Redmond, WA), the open-source statistical computing packages pandas 7 and SciPy 8 for Python and Jupyter Notebook, 9 an open-source interactive computing platform.…”

“…Burnout and job dissatisfaction have led physicians to reduce their work hours or leave the profession 1 and are associated with medical errors 2 and patient dissatisfaction. 3 In a previous survey of burnout among members of the Society of Thoracic Radiology (STR), 4,5 85.6% of respondents reported the presence of 1 or more of the 3 components of burnout: emotional exhaustion (EE); depersonalization (D); and low personal accomplishment (LPA). Burnout was reported by 84.3% of cardiothoracic radiologists in academic practice and 92.5% of those in private practice and in 84.1% of men and 88.1% of women.…”

“…The first was to compare workload and burnout rates among cardiothoracic radiologists at a time after the first major waves of the COVID-19 pandemic with those measured in the first prepandemic survey. 5 Second, we sought to accumulate data on typical cardiothoracic radiology section staffing and workload volumes by asking respondents, particularly those who are section chiefs, to provide data on the number of fulltime equivalent (FTE) positions and the average wRVU production per person in their section. We sought to determine elements of work responsibilities beyond exam volume and wRVUs to better define measures of productivity and potentially provide non-wRVU workload.…”

“…The STR recently sponsored a second member survey with several intended outcomes. The first was to compare workload and burnout rates among cardiothoracic radiologists at a time after the first major waves of the COVID-19 pandemic with those measured in the first prepandemic survey 5 . Second, we sought to accumulate data on typical cardiothoracic radiology section staffing and workload volumes by asking respondents, particularly those who are section chiefs, to provide data on the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) positions and the average wRVU production per person in their section.…”