Burnout, career satisfaction, and well-being among US neurology residents and fellows in 2016
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Abstract
Objective: To study prevalence of and factors contributing to burnout, career satisfaction, and well-being in US neurology residents and fellows.
Methods: A total of 938 US American Academy of Neurology member neurology residents and fellows were surveyed using standardized measures of burnout, career satisfaction, and well-being from January 19 to March 21, 2016.
Results: Response rate was 37.7% (354/938); about 2/3 of responders were residents and 1/3 were fellows. Median age of participants was 32 years and 51.1% were female. Seventy-three percent of residents and 55% of fellows had at least one symptom of burnout, the difference largely related to higher scores for depersonalization among residents. For residents, greater satisfaction with work–life balance, meaning in work, and older age were associated with lower risk of burnout; for fellows, greater satisfaction with work–life balance and effective support staff were associated with lower risk of burnout. Trainees experiencing burnout were less likely to report career satisfaction. Career satisfaction was more likely among those reporting meaning in work and more likely for those working in the Midwest compared with the Northeast region.
Conclusions: Burnout is common in neurology residents and fellows. Lack of work–life balance and lack of meaning in work were associated with reduced career satisfaction and increased risk of burnout. These results should inform approaches to reduce burnout and promote career satisfaction and well-being in US neurology trainees.
GLOSSARY
- AAN=
- American Academy of Neurology;
- ACGME=
- Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education;
- MBI-HSS=
- Maslach Burnout Inventory–Human Services Survey;
- QOL=
- quality of life
Footnotes
Go to Neurology.org for full disclosures. Funding information and disclosures deemed relevant by the authors, if any, are provided at the end of the article.
Supplemental data at Neurology.org
Editorial, page 421
- Received December 19, 2016.
- Accepted in final form April 3, 2017.
- © 2017 American Academy of Neurology
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Letters: Rapid online correspondence
- Author response to Dr. Sethi
- Kerry H. Levin, Cleveland Cliniclevink@ccf.org
- Shanafelt TD, Keran CM, Busis NA, Foster LA, Molano JRV, O'Donovan CA, Ratliff JB, Schwarz HB, Sloan JA, Cascino TL
Submitted August 17, 2017 - Burnout among residents and fellows: It is not all just work
- Nitin K. Sethi, Associate Professor of Neurology, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell Medical Center, New Yorksethinitinmd@hotmail.com
Submitted August 15, 2017
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