Evaluating Burnout In Medical Physicists In Canada
Abstract
Purpose
Burnout is a widespread phenomenon for health care employees due to heavy workload and emotional distress. With increasing workload and complexity in radiation therapy technology, Medical Physicists are at risk of burnout. The aim of this study is to examine burnout in Medical Physicists by using a standardized measuring tool, the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). To our best knowledge, this is the first study on burnout prevalence among Medical Physicists in Canada.
Methods
After approval from institution’s Research Ethics Board, an online survey was created with 14 demographic questions and 22 MBI questions. In collaboration with Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists (COMP) administration, survey was distributed to all COMP members in September 2025. Participants were asked to rate the frequency at which they feel a certain way on a seven-point Likert scale: never to everyday. Three dimensions were used to assess burnout: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment.
Results
In total, we received 148 completed responses from 10 Canadian provinces (93%) and USA (7%). 93% specialize in Radiation Oncology Physics and 99% have full time employment status. The population mean scores are 23.4 ±13.0 (range=1 to 53), 5.6 ± 5.3 (range=0 to 26) and 32.9 ± 7.5 (range=4 to 48) for emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment respectively. MBI cutoff scores are 27 or greater for high emotional exhaustion, 10 or greater for high depersonalization and 33 or less for low personal accomplishment. Results reveal 42%, 20% and 50% of participants experience high emotional exhaustion, high depersonalization and low personal accomplishment respectively. In 24.3% of the respondents, 2 out of 3 dimensions did not meet the cutoff score. In addition, 5.4% of the respondents met the strict criteria of burnout.
Conclusion
Current study shows that there is certain level of burnout among Medical Physicists in Canada.