Abstract
Purpose :
Burnout is highly prevalent among physicians, including ophthalmology trainees.1 Literature indicates more than half of US physicians experience some level of burnout,2 leading to tremendous costs to the medical system.3 To our knowledge, this study represents the first validated multicenter survey examining rates of burnout, professional fulfillment and intent-to-leave among ophthalmology faculty and trainees in the US. We compare our findings to survey results for all surgical fields from the same study.
Methods :
An electronic survey was sent to all practicing physicians at institutions participating in the Physician Wellness Academic Consortium (PWAC) from January 2016 – September 2018. Burnout, professional fulfillment and intent-to-leave were measured with a version of the Professional Fulfillment Index (PFI).4 Data was aggregated and deidentified by PWAC prior to release.
Results :
The estimated overall response rate was 63%. Compared to other surgical specialties, ophthalmology faculty had similar rates of burnout (31.9% vs 32.8%), higher rates of professional fulfillment (57.1% vs 49.7%) and lower rates of intention to leave their institution (26.4% vs 30%). Logistic regression using data available at the time of this report, adjusting for gender and burnout level, demonstrated ophthalmology faculty had 77% greater odds of professional fulfillment compared to other surgical faculty (OR=1.77; 95% CI: 1.00 to 3.14; p=0.049). Other observed differences between ophthalmologists and surgeons were not statistically significant, due in part to low sample size. While ophthalmology trainees reported lower levels of burnout (21.4% vs 48.8%) and higher levels of professional fulfilment (57.1% vs 33.8%) compared to all surgical trainees, their rates of intent-to-leave were higher (38.5% vs 10.5%).
Conclusions :
This national study provides the first benchmark for the prevalence of burnout, professional fulfillment and intent-to-leave within ophthalmology based on a validated survey instrument. Results suggest ophthalmologists may have higher than average professional fulfillment, compared to other surgeons. However, high rates of intent-to-leave training among ophthalmology residents is concerning. These findings call for research exploring key drivers of professional wellbeing among ophthalmologists including trainees.
This abstract was presented at the 2019 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, April 28 - May 2, 2019.