A Questionnaire-Based Prospective Study to Assess Professional and Personal Satisfaction amongst Endocrine Surgeons in India

BACKGROUND: Endocrine surgery (ES) has been a well-recognised surgical carrier option for trainees across the globe. With the successful running of Magister Chirurgiae (MCh) training programmes at various premiere medical institutions, it is rapidly gaining popularity in India. This study was conducted to assess multiple aspects of practising endocrine surgeons in India such as financial well-being, career satisfaction, and work-life balance. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A questionnaire-based survey was circulated amongst the members of the Indian Association of Endocrine Surgeons. The questionnaire included questions on various professional and personal fronts of practising endocrine surgeons in India such as training in ES, contentment/satisfaction with the field, teaching/training scenario of ES in India and comparison with opportunities outside India, rating in surgical calibre as well as choices regarding change of sector, change of speciality, etc. RESULTS: Seventy-three endocrine surgeons participated in the study. 46.6% were ES faculties working in different medical institutes, 26% were consultants in private practice, 16.4% were ES residents training under the MCh curriculum, and 11% were general surgeons practising ES. 35.6% had less than five years of experience, 27.4% had an experience of 5–10 years and 37% had more than 10 years of experience. 79.5% said ES was their first choice. 26% had beforehand exposure to other specialities before joining ES. Academic satisfaction was found to be fulfilling in 54.8%, overall work satisfaction in 71%, surgical work satisfaction in 54.8%, financial satisfaction in 43.8%, and personal life satisfaction in 71.2%. 60.3% felt burnt out once every six months, 35.6% felt it every three months and 4.1% felt the same every month. 61.6% said that it was difficult to balance their personal and professional lives. 61.6% believed that ES training in India was better or at par compared to training outside Indian territories. 58.9% felt their surgical skill calibre was equivalent, while 27.4% claimed to be superior to their peers in other surgical specialities. 63% felt confident by the end of their training period in handling all spectrum of surgeries about ES. 82.2% had no thoughts of changing specialities, whereas 52.1% opted for a change of sector. 61.6% felt there was no gender bias in this field. CONCLUSION: This study is the first of its kind done among practising endocrine surgeons in India, and shows that overall surgeon satisfaction was high, wherein academic surgeons had higher career satisfaction when compared with those private practice surgeons. The quality of life of endocrine surgeons should be improved to ensure better work-life balance which can help in strengthening the cause of ES as a separate super speciality while turning the spotlight on for the younger surgeons to see.