System-based strategies for mitigating burnout in radiology

Abstract

Background: Burnout is a chronic problem prevalent in radiology, with a significant burden on individuals and healthcare systems.

Discussion: A substantial portion of the literature on managing burnout has focused on individual-based remedies. We posit that burnout is a systemic problem and present an overview of some system-based strategies that could be employed to mitigate burnout in radiology. These include managing workload, optimizing work shifts, maximizing autonomy, limiting work-life conflicts, creating opportunities for professional fulfillment, utilizing user-friendly electronic medical records (EMR), deploying efficient picture archiving and communication systems (PACS), building system redundancy, leadership transparency, and fostering a healthy work environment. CONCLUSION: System-based strategies can help mitigate burnout.

Keywords: Career burnout; Occupational burnout; Occupational health; Occupational stress; Physicians; Professional burnout; Radiologists; Radiology.