Imposter Syndrome Among Medical Professionals in General Surgery: A Multi-center Observational Study

TL;DR

This study found that many medical professionals in general surgery experience imposter syndrome, with significant levels reported, especially among women and those aged 35-44.

Contribution

The study is one of the first to investigate imposter syndrome's prevalence and severity among general surgery staff in district general hospitals.

Findings

The overall mean Clance Imposter Phenomenon Scale score was 66.41±14.68, indicating significant imposter syndrome levels.

53.3% of respondents reported significant or intense imposter syndrome.

Female gender and age 35-44 were associated with higher imposter syndrome severity.

Abstract

Background: Imposter syndrome (IS) occurs when high-achieving individuals have a pervasive sense of self-doubt combined with fear of being exposed as a fraud, despite objective measures of success in their career. Among groups of high-achieving individuals, IS has been identified as a major contributor to burnout, endangering their mental and emotional well-being. Insufficient research has been conducted regarding the seriousness of IS among medical staff in general surgery departments. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and severity of IS among a population of medical staff working in general surgery in district general hospitals (DGHs) in the Southeast of England.

Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey design. An anonymous Microsoft form containing socio-demographic characteristics and the Clance Imposter Phenomenon Scale (CIPS) was shared with medical staff across seven DSGs who had provided informed consent to take part in the study. The data was exported to IBM SPSS version 20 and analysed using descriptive analysis.

Results: A total of 76 out of 150 medical staff responded to the survey with a response rate of 51%. Most of the respondents were male (40, 52.6%), aged 35-44 years (42, 55.3%), of Asian or Asian British ethnicity (37, 48.7%), and staff grade ST3-ST8 (33, 43.4%). The overall mean CIPS among all the respondents was 66.41±14.68, with a range of 20 to 96. The respondents demonstrated various levels of IS, with 6.6%, 25.0%, 53.3% and 13.1% reporting mild, moderate, significant and intense IS, respectively.

Conclusions: There was a high prevalence of IS among the medical staff in general surgery. There was a statistically significant difference in moderate to intense IS CIPS among the female gender and those aged 35 to 44 years. However, there was no statistically significant difference in reported CIPS among respondents' staff grade and ethnicity.