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. 2025 Feb 27:17:49-61.
doi: 10.2147/JHL.S487849. eCollection 2025.

Physician Leadership and Its Effect on Physician Burnout and Satisfaction During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Edward G Spilg  1   2   3 , Kylie McNeill  1 , Melanie Dodd-Moher  2   4 , Johanna Suzanne Dobransky  2   4 , Elham Sabri  2 , Jerry M Maniate  1   2   3 , Kathleen A Gartke  2   4
Affiliations

Physician Leadership and Its Effect on Physician Burnout and Satisfaction During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Edward G Spilg et al. J Healthc Leadersh. .

Abstract

Purpose: Physician burnout is a global issue associated with low job satisfaction, decreased quality of patient care, reduced productivity, and early retirement from clinical practice. We sought to evaluate the impact of the leadership qualities of direct physician supervisors on the burnout and professional satisfaction of the physicians they supervise.

Methods: An online survey was distributed by Email to all staff physicians practicing at a large Canadian academic tertiary care hospital. The primary outcome was the prevalence of burnout and professional satisfaction, assessed using the 2-item Maslach Burnout Inventory and a single item 5-point Likert scale rating, respectively. The secondary outcome was the relationship between composite leadership score and burnout/satisfaction, with leadership assessed by the 12-item Mayo Clinic Participatory Management Leadership Index.

Results: Out of the 1176 physicians surveyed, 383 (32.6%) responded (51.2% male; 41.5% female). Overall, 41.7% of physicians reported at least one symptom of burnout (40.0% reported high emotional exhaustion; 15.3% reported high depersonalization). 40.1% of physicians reported being satisfied with the organization, 26.3% were neutral, and 33.6% were dissatisfied. On multivariate analysis adjusting for age, sex, duration of employment at the institution, and specialty, each one-point increase in composite leadership score was associated with a 3.1% decrease in the likelihood of burnout (p = 0.0017), and a 6.6% increase in the likelihood of satisfaction (p < 0.0001).

Conclusion: Physician burnout is prevalent and positive leadership qualities of direct supervisors decreases the likelihood of burnout in physicians and increases the likelihood of their satisfaction with the organization.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov; Identifier: NCT04896307.

Keywords: burnout; leadership; physician wellness; satisfaction.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart of study sample.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Relationship between mean composite leadership score and burnout and satisfaction. (A) Relationship between mean composite leadership score of the immediate supervisor and physician emotional exhaustion (correlation coefficient = −0.206, p < 0.0001). (B) Relationship between mean composite leadership score of the immediate supervisor and physician depersonalization (correlation coefficient = −0.176, p < 0.001). (C) Relationship between mean composite leadership score of the immediate supervisor and physician and satisfaction (correlation coefficient = 0.302, p < 0.0001). Error bars indicate 95% CI.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Composite leadership score and rate of burnout and satisfaction at the division/department level. (A) Mean composite leadership score and rate of burnout at the division/department level (correlation coefficient = −0.371, p = 0.0474). (B) Mean composite leadership score and rate of satisfaction at the division/department level (correlation coefficient = 0.199, p = 0.300).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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