Stress factors affecting academic physicians at a university hospital

Research is limited regarding occupational stress in academic physicians; professionals whose work situation includes the three areas of clinical practice, research, and teaching. The aim of this study was to gain knowledge of factors experienced as stressful by academic physicians employed by a university hospital. A questionnaire assessing the frequency and intensity of 36 potentially stressful factors was sent to all 157 academic physicians who were employed at the Link "oping University Hospital, Sweden. The response rate was 77%. Both a high frequency and intensity of stress was experienced by 66% of the academic physicians in relation to "time pressure" and by almost 50% in connection with both "find time for research" and having "conflict of interest between different work assignments". Moreover, physicians in the higher age group and those who had attained a higher academic position experienced less stress. The female participants experienced more stress than the males due to gender-related problems and to variables associated with relationships at work. More knowledge is needed to determine the consequences of this finding and to identify coping strategies used for handling such stress.