Hopping Off the Hamster Wheel: Proposed Solutions for Radiologist Burnout

From board exams and administrative tasks to an ever-enormous digital pile of studies, it’s no secret that radiology is a demanding profession. Likewise, this field tends to attract some of the most driven and hard-working personalities. But those characteristics also precipitate one inevitable consequence: burnout. Gone are the days when radiology was considered a “lifestyle” specialty. Radiologists today are facing greater demands, which affects not only quality of care, but job satisfaction and wellness.

Today, residents and attending physicians alike regularly take work home, and seldom experience the satisfaction of knowing that the work is truly done. In the ACR® Well-Being 360 project, 28 radiologists from a variety of backgrounds were anonymously interviewed about their experiences and thoughts on work-life balance. One interviewee highlighted increasingly redundant studies as a source of inefficiency. “If people order studies that aren’t needed or aren’t the right study, we don’t have [the] opportunity to sort of intervene and say, ‘Hey, wait, actually, I don’t think you need an ultrasound because we just got a CT.’”

In our current landscape, burnout could be attributed to changes in practice type and administration. Radiologists are less likely to work independently and more likely to work for larger entities. Many feel that the goal of radiology is increased efficiency and profit. Interviewees in the ACR report shared feelings comparable to being on a “hamster wheel,” with no realistic way of hopping off.

Additionally, in many practices, physician compensation is now based on productivity, which can contribute to an unhealthy culture of competition among coworkers. In fact, a lack of uniformity and feelings of not truly being on a team were issues also presented in the report, with one interviewee stating, “I couldn't even tell you where the radiology department was in the hospital. I had no professional community. It’s pretty isolating.”

In light of these concerns, interviewees made creative suggestions, including:

• Establishing clinical decision support tools to cut down superfluous studies.
• Enlisting teleradiologists to decrease workload.
• Scheduling protected time for administrative tasks.

Administrative staff could also track patient outcomes and provide feedback, which would allow radiologists to feel closer to their patients and provide more opportunities for intellectual stimulation and growth.

The ACR Radiology Well-Being Program offers Well-Being Support Guides for Physicians, Residents and Students with topics on self-care, communication as well as diversity and inclusion. With resources like these, individuals and program directors can change the culture of radiology for the better.

Physicians are accustomed to putting their patients first. However, we also need to prioritize physician wellness, so they can continue to support their patients.