Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the burnout rates of graduating Canadian Urology residents.

Abstract

To assess the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on burnout rates in Canadian Urology trainees. A total of 37 chief residents representing all 12 Canadian Urology residency programmes attended a preparatory examination in December 2019 pre-pandemic and 39 chief residents attended virtually in November 2020 during the pandemic. The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) for medical professionals' questionnaire was administered anonymously to both groups. The MBI covers emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and personal accomplishment. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. There was a 100% response rate in the convenience sample (n = 37) in 2019 and 64.1% response rate (n = 25) in 2020. Overall, 70% of chief residents in Canadian Urology programmes showed evidence of burnout in 2019 compared to 88% in 2020 (P = 0.101). There was a statistically significant difference between the two cohorts in emotional exhaustion (mean [sd] 16.2 [5.6] in 2019 and 20.2 [6.2] in 2020, P = 0.011) and personal accomplishment scores (mean [sd] 32.2 [4.5] in 2019 and 30.6 [3.6] in 2020, P = 0.039). This study is the first to examine the impact of the pandemic on burnout rates in Urology trainees. Burnout rates are high in trainees at baseline, and the pandemic appears to have exacerbated emotional exhaustion, and personal accomplishment, but not overall burnout rates. Vigilance and proactive steps need to be implemented to alleviate this crisis.