Saudi Arabian Students in Postgraduate Dental Programs: Investigating Factors Associated with Burnout

Burnout related to emotional and physical study or work demands affects an individual’s performance and well being. This study focused on Saudi Arabian dental residents studying in the United States and the United Kingdom who are faced with many challenges in pursuit of a higher education degree. A survey including demographic and MBI questions was distributed to assess this population’s level of burnout. The Maslach Burnout inventory (MBI) has been widely used in the literature to assess three components of burnout: emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DEP), and (diminished) personal accomplishment (PA). Potential predictors of burnout level, tested for statistical significance, included: (1) country (US vs UK), (2) hours of work, (3) sponsorship status, (4) marital status (5) gender and (6) prior work experience. Using multiple regression analyses, those found to predict EE included hours of work, sponsorship status, and gender. Only gender was found to predict PA. None of the variables were predictive of DEP. Moreover, after controlling for the demographic variables, the country where studying did not help account for the level of burnout. Limitations of the study, implications for practice and suggestions for further research are offered in the discussion.