Faculty Bibliography

OBJECTIVE:To understand the experience and identify drivers and mitigating factors of burnout and well-being among US neurologists. METHODS:Inductive data analysis was applied to free text comments (n = 676) from the 2016 American Academy of Neurology survey of burnout, career satisfaction, and well-being. RESULTS:Respondents providing comments were significantly more likely to be older, owners/partners of their practice, solo practitioners, and compensated by production than those not commenting. The 4 identified themes were (1) policies and people affecting neurologists (government and insurance mandates, remuneration, recertification, leadership); (2) workload and work-life balance (workload, electronic health record [EHR], work-life balance); (3) engagement, professionalism, work domains specific to neurology; and (4) solutions (systemic and individual), advocacy, other. Neurologists mentioned workload > professional identity > time spent on insurance and government mandates when describing burnout. Neurologists' patient and clerical workload increased work hours or work brought home, resulting in poor work-life balance. EHR and expectations of high patient volumes by administrators impeded quality of patient care. As a result, many neurologists reduced work hours and call provision and considered early retirement. CONCLUSIONS:Our results further characterize burnout among US neurologists through respondents' own voices. They clarify the meaning respondents attributed to ambiguous survey questions and highlight the barriers neurologists must overcome to practice their chosen specialty, including multiple regulatory hassles and increased work hours. Erosion of professionalism by external factors was a common issue. Our findings can provide strategic direction for advocacy and programs to prevent and mitigate neurologist burnout and promote well-being and engagement.

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.

OBJECTIVE:To study prevalence of and factors that contribute to burnout, career satisfaction, and well-being in US neurologists. METHODS:A total of 4,127 US American Academy of Neurology member neurologists who had finished training were surveyed using validated measures of burnout, career satisfaction, and well-being from January 19 to March 21, 2016. RESULTS:Response rate was 40.5% (1,671 of 4,127). Average age of participants was 51 years, with 65.3% male and nearly equal representation across US geographic regions. Approximately 60% of respondents had at least one symptom of burnout. Hours worked/week, nights on call/week, number of outpatients seen/week, and amount of clerical work were associated with greater burnout risk. Effective support staff, job autonomy, meaningful work, age, and subspecializing in epilepsy were associated with lower risk. Academic practice (AP) neurologists had a lower burnout rate and higher rates of career satisfaction and quality of life than clinical practice (CP) neurologists. Some factors contributing to burnout were shared between AP and CP, but some risks were unique to practice setting. Factors independently associated with profession satisfaction included meaningfulness of work, job autonomy, effectiveness of support staff, age, practicing sleep medicine (inverse relationship), and percent time in clinical practice (inverse relationship). Burnout was strongly associated with decreased career satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS:Burnout is common in all neurology practice settings and subspecialties. The largest driver of career satisfaction is the meaning neurologists find in their work. The results from this survey will inform approaches needed to reduce burnout and promote career satisfaction and well-being in US neurologists.