“Burnout Among Mid-Career Academic Medical Faculty,” a study published this week in JAMA Network Open, reveals increased  burnout in academic medical faculty compared to clinicians, and that women experience significantly higher burnout levels compared to men — findings that may be of interest to aging services providers.

Analyzing results from 841 survey respondents in academic medicine, University of Michigan researchers explored the prevalence of burnout among mid-career academic faculty, defined as those who received their training more than 10  years ago.  In addition to academic medical faculty’s higher burnout, the study also shows women experience significantly higher work-related burnout (40.8%) levels compared to men (23%). The study also found that work-related burnout was significantly less likely for people with more nightly sleep hours and for those the researchers characterize as having an  “improved general work climate rating.” Work climate was evaluated by a general climate elements scale assessing elements such as friendliness, respect, and collegiality, and a diversity, equity, and inclusion climate elements scale assessing elements such as homogeneity, sexism, and homophobia; higher scores indicated a more favorable view of the climate.

Why does this matter to aging service providers?  Burnout in various medical fields has led to staffing challenges and talent shortages across the healthcare sector, similar to what we have seen in nursing, which is driven, in part, by a lack of nursing faculty and advanced practice nurses. Researchers in this study noted the increased need for evidence-based interventions to support women faculty throughout their careers as these are essential to ensure access to all available talent and allow the field to reap the demonstrated benefits of workforce diversity.