The COVID-19 pandemic appears to be intensifying workplace fatigue among some physician specialties, at a time when radiology actually saw its numbers dip, according to a new survey.
Across 29 areas of medical expertise, burnout rates landed at 42%, according to a survey of 12,339 doctors, conducted by Medscape between August and September. Specialties such as critical care (51%), rheumatology (50%), and infectious disease (49%) all saw burnout increase by at least 4 percentage points compared to 2019. Radiology, on the other hand, experienced a 10 percentage-point drop in 2020, down to 36%, the survey discovered.
The pandemic appears to be hitting female physicians hardest, Medscape noted, with roughly 51% reporting symptoms of burnout compared to 36% among their male counterparts. Women in medicine have typically reported higher such rates of exhaustion in Medscape polls, but the gender gap appeared to worsen in 2020. Numerous recent writings in journals have highlighted COVID’s outsized impact on female radiologists, often forced to take on additional homecare duties without a commensurate decrease in work responsibilities.
“It’s already known that women assume more responsibilities in the home than do men,” Carol Bernstein, MD, a psychiatrist with Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, told the publication. “The pressures have increased during COVID-19: having to be their child’s teacher during homeschooling; no childcare; and the grandparents can’t babysit. Those all bring enormous pressure and burdens.”
Roughly 79% of physicians said their burnout began before the pandemic. But factors such as lack of protective equipment, long hours, and grief over losing patients have only worsened things since March. Happiness among docs dropped from 69% prior to the pandemic down to 49%, the survey found.
About 20% of physicians said they’ve experienced clinical depression, while 69% said they’ve suffered the “colloquial” variety (feeling down, sad). And 13% of docs said they’ve had thoughts of suicide, including about 12% of radiologists surveyed. OB/GYN specialists topped the list at 19%.
Another recent report from Medscape also found that only about 6% of radiologists are anxious about their future, placing the specialty near the bottom of the list, just ahead of plastic surgeons and nephrologists at 4%. Rheumatologists reported the highest level of anxiety at 14%.
You can read more about the publication’s 2021 physician burnout report below and our coverage of 2020’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.