Burnout remains prevalent among radiology residents years after the COVID-19 health crisis hit, according to nationwide survey data published Tuesday.
Numerous studies have demonstrated the pandemic’s outsized impact on imaging, with physicians facing isolation, work stoppages and other uncertainty. Years later, burnout remains an issue, experts with the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine wrote in Academic Radiology [1].
Those involved conducted their survey last year, reaching nearly 150 radiology residents. They found that male respondents experienced greater levels of depersonalization (a dimension of burnout), while increased frequency of physical activity was associated with higher personal accomplishment scores (another dimension).
“Burnout among radiology residents remains high following the COVID-19 pandemic and is an important issue to address,” Aashish Batheja and Neeraj Lalwani, MD, with VCU’s Department of Radiology, wrote March 19. “While residents offered suggestions for improving work burden, future research is needed to determine which characteristics of work, such as flexibility, pace or case volume, may be associated with burnout,” they added later.
The authors administered the anonymous survey in summer 2023, utilizing the American Medical Association Residency & Fellowship Programs Database to target respondents. They sought to establish the association between demographic characteristics, such as age, gender and race, and burnout dimensions including depersonalization, personal accomplishment and emotional exhaustion.
The latter was positively associated with seeking social social support and negatively associated with a residency program’s perceived effectiveness in addressing burnout. Those who identified as male experienced higher levels of depersonalization. Meanwhile, the most common resident suggestions to address burnout included lessening their work burden, providing more programmatic support and offering “protected wellness time.”
“Radiology programs should consider designing interventions addressing burnout, such as enhancing avenues for feedback and tailoring resident training based on individual preferences for remote work,” the authors concluded. “Understanding the unique challenges faced by radiology residents is essential to tackle burnout and improve wellness.”
Read more about the study, including potential limitations, at the link below.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.