J Korean Med Sci.  2022 Mar;37(9):e74. 10.3346/jkms.2022.37.e74.

Burnout of Faculty Members of Medical Schools in Korea

• Seo JH
• Bae Ho
• Kim BJ
• Huh S
• Ahn YJ
• Jung SS
• Kim C
• Im S
• Kim JB
• Cho SJ
• Han HC
• Lee YM

• KMID: 2526974
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2022.37.e74

Abstract

Background
There is no national survey on medical school faculty members’ burnout in Korea. This study aimed to investigate burnout levels and explore possible factors related to burnout among faculty members of Korean medical schools.
Methods
An anonymous online questionnaire was distributed to 40 Korean medical schools from October 2020 to December 2020. Burnout was measured by a modified and revalidated version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Service Survey.
Results
A total of 996 faculty members participated in the survey. Of them, 855 answered the burnout questions, and 829 completed all the questions in the questionnaire. A significant number of faculty members showed a high level of burnout in each sub-dimension: 34% in emotional exhaustion, 66.3% in depersonalization, and 92.4% in reduced personal accomplishment. A total of 31.5% of faculty members revealed a high level of burnout in two sub-dimensions, while 30.5% revealed a high level of burnout in all three sub-dimensions. Woman faculty members or those younger than 40 reported significantly higher emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Long working hours (≥ 80 hours/week) showed the highest reduced personal accomplishment scores (F = 4.023, P = 0.018). The most significant stressor or burnout source was “excessive regulation by the government or university.” The research was the most exasperating task, but the education was the least stressful.
Conclusion
This first nationwide study alerts that a significant number of faculty members in Korean medical schools seem to suffer from a high level of burnout. Further studies are necessary for identifying the burnout rate, related factors, and strategies to overcome physician burnout.

Keyword

Burnout; Faculty Members; Medical Schools; Korea

Figure

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  Fig. 1 The frequency of burnout in three domains according to age groups.

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  Fig. 2 The contributing factors for faculty’s stress or burnout. Government or university regulation was the most stressful factor and followed by spending too many hours at work.

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  Fig. 3 The adverse effects of burnout: depression, retirement and suicide. Depression (38.3%), retirement ideation (47.5%), retirement attempt (16.8%), suicidal ideation (8.0%), and suicidal attempt (0.6%) were reported by medical faculty members.

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