Burnout level and related factors among physicians working as research assistants at Pamukkale University Faculty of Medicine

Maslach defined burnout as a psychological syndrome that emerges over a long period of time as a reaction to stressful elements in the workplace, and as a chronic state of tension resulting from the incompatibility between the employee and the job. Physician burnout is a widespread work-related condition that includes emotional exhaustion, desensitization, and a decreased sense of personal accomplishment. Considering that physicians working as research assistants are in their early years of their professional lives, it is thought that determining burnout levels and factors affecting burnout is important in order to take the right steps at the beginning of the path. The aim of this study is to evaluate burnout levels and possible related factors in physicians working as research assistants at Pamukkale University Faculty of Medicine. The universe of the cross-sectional study consists of 650 physicians working as research assistants at Pamukkale University Faculty of Medicine. A 58-question questionnaire form was applied as a data collection tool, which included questions that questioned the sociodemographic characteristics of the participants, their professional status, and measured burnout. Burnout was measured using the 22-question Maslach Burnout Scale. Ethics committee approval and necessary institutional permissions were obtained before the study. SPSS 17.0 program was used for data analysis. Mann Whitney U, Kruskal Wallis tests were used in the analysis of the measurement data and multiple linear regression (backward) model was used in the evaluation of factors related to burnout level. 298 people were reached in the study where the required sample size was determined as 242. 60.1% of the participants were female and the average age was 28.49±2.87. The burnout levels of the participants in the study were determined to be moderate. As a result, a statistically significant relationship was found between the variables of gender, smoking, being able to spare time for social activities/hobbies, field of expertise, being on duty, regretting the choice of department, being subjected to mobbing, experiencing verbal and psychological violence, experiencing physical violence, anxiety about the professional future, being able to spare time for social activities/hobbies and being able to follow publications/current developments related to the field and the total score of the scale or at least one of the sub-dimensions of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment. Burnout in physicians working as research assistants should be addressed in detail and necessary measures should be taken to prevent burnout. Keywords: Burnout, physician burnout, research assistant physician