Abstract
BackgroundIn China, the shortage of doctors leads to stressful clinical work and increasing turnover. Medical students undergoing postgraduate specialty training will be the country’s medical workforce in the coming decades, but are also subject to high workloads and academic pressure. This may have significant implications for burnout and career choice regret. Despite the importance of burnout and career choice regret, the status and relationship of these aspects in Chinese neurology postgraduates are largely unexplored, and associated factors remain unknown.MethodsThis study investigated the prevalence of and factors influencing burnout and career choice regret among neurology postgraduates in China. We conducted a national cross-sectional study of Chinese neurology postgraduates. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire that covered demographic information, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and additional item to assess career choice regret.ResultsOf 4902 neurology postgraduates, 2008 returned completed questionnaires (response rate 41%). After excluding incomplete questionnaires, data for 1814 participants were analyzed. In total, 83.6% of participants had experienced symptoms of burnout, and 46.6% reported career choice regret. Binary logistic regression analysis showed postgraduate entrance examination scores, marital status, and having children were associated with burnout (all P < 0.05). Career choice regret was the strongest risk factor for burnout (odds ratio [OR] = 3.17, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.33–4.32). Multiple logistic regression showed postgraduates with shorter work or study hours per week (OR = 0.64, 95% CI 0.47–0.88) had a low risk for career choice regret, whereas married participants (OR = 1.54, 95% CI 1.07–2.20) had a high risk for career choice regret. No symptoms of burnout (OR = 0.33, 95% CI 0.24–0.45) was also associated with a low risk for career choice regret.ConclusionsBurnout symptoms and career choice regret are prevalent among neurology postgraduates in China. Career choice regret is an important predictor of burnout. Further research on reducing burnout and career choice regret among neurology postgraduates is needed.
Highlights
In China, the shortage of doctors leads to stressful clinical work and increasing turnover
Medical postgraduates or interns often work long hours and have heavy workloads, which may increase the risk for burnout and career choice regret
We examined the status of and factors associated with burnout and career choice regret among Chinese neurology postgraduates
Summary
Study designs, setting, and participants This survey was conducted by the China Neurologist Association from September 2014 to March 2015. Standard protocol approval and participant consent The cover letter for the questionnaire introduced the purpose of the survey, which was to explore the status of and factors potentially associated with burnout and career choice regret. Part 3 included a question investigating career choice regret: “If you could go back, would you choose to become a doctor again?” Response options were ‘no’, ‘neutral’ and ‘yes’; responses of ‘no’ indicated career choice regret. This question was used to assess career choice regret in previous studies [13, 19]. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors potentially associated with career choice regret. A P-value below 0.05 was considered statistically significant
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