COVID-19 has dramatically affected radiologist’s happiness outside of the workplace, according to a new survey published Friday.
Prior to the pandemic, about 82% of physicians in the specialty felt fulfilled during their off-the-clock hours. But by 2020, only 60% felt “somewhat” or “very happy," Medscape shared in its annual Radiologist Lifestyle, Happiness & Burnout Report.
Radiologists certainly weren’t alone, as no specialty in the survey relayed a happiness percentage higher than 73%, with docs in diabetes and endocrinology topping 2021’s list. The previous survey had the same specialty at the top at 89%, and every category ranked 78% or higher, except for infectious disease specialists (69%).
“As the pandemic has worn on, feelings have shifted, showing signs of strain on the healthcare industry and its doctors,” Medscape reported Feb. 19. “Similar to physicians overall (58%), only 60% of radiologists say they are now very or somewhat happy outside of work. Perhaps not surprising given the specific challenges around COVID-19, infectious disease physicians (45%), pulmonologists (47%), rheumatologists (49%) and intensivists (49%) currently rank lowest in happiness outside of work.”
Medscape conducted its annual physician survey between Aug. 30 and Nov. 5, all together polling 12,339 clinicians across 30 or so specialties. That included roughly 370 radiologists for Friday’s imaging-focused report.
Only about 37% of radiologists said they were burned out or additionally had signs of depression, a drop from 46% in the last survey. About 11% of rads said their workplace fatigue was severe enough for them to consider leaving the profession. COVID-19 does not appear to be fueling burnout among imaging ranks: 90% of radiologists said their feelings originated before the pandemic, compared to 10% afterward. Three quarters of rads had some level of anxiety about their future related to the novel coronavirus, roughly in line with the 77% logged across all docs. Only about 6% of the specialty said they were “very anxious” due to the pandemic, while 34% said they were “somewhat.”
You can read lots more about Medscape’s findings here, and check out our coverage of last year’s report here.
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.