Preliminary results from a European Society of Cardiology (ESC) poll suggest the best long-term investment medical institutions can make is in their own employees, whose risk for burnout could be mitigated by more dynamic, supportive work environments where they feel valued. Initial data were presented at this year’s ESC Congress in Munich.
“In any workplace, the environment can have a significant impact on how a person does his or her job,” Barbara Casadei, MD, ESC president-elect, said in a release. “Burnout and disaffection can take a heavy toll on our profession and consequently on our patients. Our aim was to probe the culture of cardiology departments across Europe, raise awareness of challenges and opportunities, and identify new initiatives the ESC can put in place to support its members.”
The ESC achieved that with its “C-Change” (culture change) survey, which received 3,848 responses from ESC members across 17 countries. According to the release, results found European cardiologists as a whole to be motivated, satisfied with their work and have strong leadership aspirations.
Still, the survey found stark regional and departmental differences, with cardiologists in Southern and Eastern Europe much less likely to feel they had enough support from their employers. Forty-two percent of Eastern European physicians also said they felt the need to compromise their values in the workplace, compared to 19 percent of physicians in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the U.K.
“The general assumption is that medicine is a meritocracy,” Casadei said. “If you’re talented and work hard, you will succeed. In reality, ‘success’ is the product of the opportunities that are on offer and what one does with them.”
She said if the range of opportunities on offer and treatment of cardiologists by their employers differ too greatly across locations, genders and ethnicities, it can become difficult to quantify achievement. And it doesn’t help that physicians work in an environment where half of them, according to the survey, anticipate they’ll need to sacrifice their personal lives and family time to reach success.
“I find the waste of talent that results from lack of opportunities and encouragement heart-breaking,” Casadei said.
The good news is that the ESC’s survey also found institutions could be doing more to prevent burnout, which disproportionately affects mid-career professionals, middle-aged physicians and women in Eastern Europe. The report suggested flexible working hours, part-time opportunities, affordable childcare, better departmental support and fair compensation as possible steps to minimize the phenomenon among cardiologists.
“Investing in people and promoting a supportive culture at work are transformational, low-cost interventions,” Casadei said. “The ESC will use the findings of the C-Change questionnaire to further develop strategic initiatives that support cardiologists and encourage institutions to create a work environment that allows professionals to aim high and be energized at work.”
After graduating from Indiana University-Bloomington with a bachelor’s in journalism, Anicka joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering cardiology. Close to her heart is long-form journalism, Pilot G-2 pens, dark chocolate and her dog Harper Lee.