Effects of Department Type and Disability Status on Medical School Faculty Wellbeing

ABSTRACT Purpose Faculty wellbeing impacts student learning and is a priority among medical schools, especially as a counterbalance to growing burnout. Previous researchers found differences in burnout by sex and race among clinicians, but not for faculty with disabilities. Accordingly, the purpose...

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Main Authors: Mohammed A. A. Abulela, Bethany Schowengerdt, Heather Dorr, Amanda Termuhlen, Kristina Krohn, Claudio Violato
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-01-01
Series:Health Science Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/hsr2.70317
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author Mohammed A. A. Abulela
Bethany Schowengerdt
Heather Dorr
Amanda Termuhlen
Kristina Krohn
Claudio Violato
author_facet Mohammed A. A. Abulela
Bethany Schowengerdt
Heather Dorr
Amanda Termuhlen
Kristina Krohn
Claudio Violato
author_sort Mohammed A. A. Abulela
collection DOAJ
description ABSTRACT Purpose Faculty wellbeing impacts student learning and is a priority among medical schools, especially as a counterbalance to growing burnout. Previous researchers found differences in burnout by sex and race among clinicians, but not for faculty with disabilities. Accordingly, the purpose was to test the association between faculty's wellbeing, burnout, and control over workload and investigate differences in wellbeing attributed to department type and ability status. Method The authors developed and administered a comprehensive wellbeing survey to University of Minnesota Medical School faculty, of whom 703 provided complete responses. The authors conducted two‐way ANOVA followed by a post hoc analysis to test for differences in faculty wellbeing domains due to department type (basic sciences, nonsurgical, surgical, and two large departments of Medicine and Pediatrics) and disability status (yes, no). The authors also fitted a two‐way ordinal model since burnout frequency and control over workload were assessed by one ordinal item each. Results Wellbeing domains were positively correlated with control over workload but negatively associated with burnout. Faculty with disabilities reported less support from their work environment and meeting of their basic needs. Department type had a statistically significant impact on faculty's sense of basic needs, respect, and contribution. Multiple comparisons revealed faculty in basic sciences departments had higher scores within basic needs compared to the departments of Medicine, Pediatrics, and surgical departments, who reported lower levels of respect as well. Results revealed department type and disability status affected the frequency of burnout, as faculty in basic sciences departments reported lower levels of burnout compared to other departments. Conclusions Results support disaggregating wellbeing by department and ability status for targeted interventions due to differences‐ notably among faculty with disabilities and surgical departments‐ in their assessment of basic needs, work environment, respect, and contribution. Results suggest revisiting interventions in these domains to account for lower reported wellbeing.
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spelling doaj-art-95c95aad427f46f5ae10e8b806b8158d2025-01-29T03:42:40ZengWileyHealth Science Reports2398-88352025-01-0181n/an/a10.1002/hsr2.70317Effects of Department Type and Disability Status on Medical School Faculty WellbeingMohammed A. A. Abulela0Bethany Schowengerdt1Heather Dorr2Amanda Termuhlen3Kristina Krohn4Claudio Violato5Department of Educational Psychology University of Minnesota Minneapolis Minnesota USAUniversity of Minnesota Medical School Minneapolis Minnesota USAUniversity of Minnesota Medical School Minneapolis Minnesota USAUniversity of Minnesota Medical School Minneapolis Minnesota USAUniversity of Minnesota Medical School Minneapolis Minnesota USAUniversity of Minnesota Medical School Minneapolis Minnesota USAABSTRACT Purpose Faculty wellbeing impacts student learning and is a priority among medical schools, especially as a counterbalance to growing burnout. Previous researchers found differences in burnout by sex and race among clinicians, but not for faculty with disabilities. Accordingly, the purpose was to test the association between faculty's wellbeing, burnout, and control over workload and investigate differences in wellbeing attributed to department type and ability status. Method The authors developed and administered a comprehensive wellbeing survey to University of Minnesota Medical School faculty, of whom 703 provided complete responses. The authors conducted two‐way ANOVA followed by a post hoc analysis to test for differences in faculty wellbeing domains due to department type (basic sciences, nonsurgical, surgical, and two large departments of Medicine and Pediatrics) and disability status (yes, no). The authors also fitted a two‐way ordinal model since burnout frequency and control over workload were assessed by one ordinal item each. Results Wellbeing domains were positively correlated with control over workload but negatively associated with burnout. Faculty with disabilities reported less support from their work environment and meeting of their basic needs. Department type had a statistically significant impact on faculty's sense of basic needs, respect, and contribution. Multiple comparisons revealed faculty in basic sciences departments had higher scores within basic needs compared to the departments of Medicine, Pediatrics, and surgical departments, who reported lower levels of respect as well. Results revealed department type and disability status affected the frequency of burnout, as faculty in basic sciences departments reported lower levels of burnout compared to other departments. Conclusions Results support disaggregating wellbeing by department and ability status for targeted interventions due to differences‐ notably among faculty with disabilities and surgical departments‐ in their assessment of basic needs, work environment, respect, and contribution. Results suggest revisiting interventions in these domains to account for lower reported wellbeing.https://doi.org/10.1002/hsr2.70317associationburnoutdisabilitywellbeingworkload
spellingShingle Mohammed A. A. Abulela
Bethany Schowengerdt
Heather Dorr
Amanda Termuhlen
Kristina Krohn
Claudio Violato
Effects of Department Type and Disability Status on Medical School Faculty Wellbeing
Health Science Reports
association
burnout
disability
wellbeing
workload
title Effects of Department Type and Disability Status on Medical School Faculty Wellbeing
title_full Effects of Department Type and Disability Status on Medical School Faculty Wellbeing
title_fullStr Effects of Department Type and Disability Status on Medical School Faculty Wellbeing
title_full_unstemmed Effects of Department Type and Disability Status on Medical School Faculty Wellbeing
title_short Effects of Department Type and Disability Status on Medical School Faculty Wellbeing
title_sort effects of department type and disability status on medical school faculty wellbeing
topic association
burnout
disability
wellbeing
workload
url https://doi.org/10.1002/hsr2.70317
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