Investigating burnout levels and its determinants among the veterinary medicine students: The case of Istanbul University

Abstract

This study was conducted to examine burnout levels and their determinants among veterinary medicine students. Answers (n = 447) to a survey formed the data of this study. Maslach Burnout Inventory - Student Scale, which was adapted to the Turkish language, was used to determine the burnout levels of the students. As a result, burnout levels were obtained as 13.31, 7.82, and 7.69 for Emotional Exhaustion (EE), Depersonalization (DP), and Personal Accomplishment (PA) components, respectively. Year of study and having a hobby affected three of the burnout components. In order to determine the relationship between students’ burnout levels and students’ tendency to drop out, to work in a different profession after graduation and academic failure, a logistic regression analysis was conducted. Results revealed that year of study, weighted grade point average (WGPA), EE, DP, PA, repeating academic semester(s), number of the repeated academic semester(s), and perceived difficulty of veterinary education were significantly associated with the students’ intention to drop out of the faculty. Gender, living situation, monthly income, EE, DP and PA affected education-occupation mismatch. Furthermore, gender, year of study, WGPA, living situation, monthly income, EE, DP, PA, and perceived difficulty level of the veterinary education influenced repeating academic semester(s). The results of this study reveal that burnout syndrome would lead to students’ dropping out of the faculty, education-occupation mismatch and academic failure. Future studies must be conducted throughout the country to assess burnout syndrome in veterinary students.