The prevalence of imposter syndrome among young neurosurgeons and residents in neurosurgery: a multicentric study

Abstract

OBJECTIVE 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. This is one of the main causes of burnout among professionals, threatening their mental health and general well-being. The prevalence and severity of IS among neurosurgery residents and young neurosurgeons has not been yet studied. The primary outcomes of this study were the prevalence and severity of IS. METHODS An anonymous cross-sectional survey including both a demographic questionnaire (Clance Imposter Phenomenon Survey) and compensatory mechanisms was distributed to young neurosurgeons and residents in neurosurgery in Italy. RESULTS A total of 103 responses were collected. The prevalence rate was 81.6%. Among the respondents with IS, 42.7% showed moderate signs, 27.2% frequent, and only 11.7% had an intense symptomatology. Level of education, female sex, and academic achievements were all identified as predictive factors of IS. CONCLUSIONS A total of 81.6% of respondents reported potentially significant levels. The implications of IS on both the outcomes in patients and the well-being of neurosurgeons should be evaluated in future studies.

A Scoping Review of Professionalism in Neurosurgery

“…Articles examining professional development ranged from resident training to maintenance of certification. 118-151 The most common type of publication in this category was preintervention and postintervention studies. 123,124,128,130,131,136,147,148 The development and implementation of the ACGME milestones was discussed in several articles.…”

Imposter phenomenon in physical therapists: A cross‐sectional observational study

“…The mean imposter scores within these studies ranged from 47.0 to 61.2. Frequent‐to‐intense IP was observed in 38.9% of neurosurgeons and neurosurgery residents, with the majority of individuals reporting moderate levels of IP (42.7%) 20 . A significant proportion of radiologists (71%) experienced frequent‐to‐intense IP 21 .…”

“…Prior research has not consistently demonstrated a clear relationship between job ranks or professional longevity with IP. Among surgeons, IP was more prevalent and worse in trainees and residents than faculty mentors 20,28 . On the contrary, nontenured faculty had lower IP scores than their tenure‐track counterparts 29 and IP was common in those working in top research institutions 30 .…”

“…Following recommended guidelines, 1,15,18 Clance IP raw scores were categorized into four distinct IP levels of low (≤40), moderate (41-60), frequent (61-80), and intense (>80); emotional exhaustion scores to low (≤18), moderate (19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26), and high (≥27); job satisfaction scores to yes (≥12) and no (<12). Descriptive statistics summarized the characteristics for the overall sample and by IP levels.…”

Editorial. “Sometimes wrong, never in doubt” or “fake it till you make it”?

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T he classically quoted refrain of the surgeon, "sometimes wrong, never in doubt," is called into question in the study by Zaed and co-authors, who examine the prevalence of the imposter syndrome (IS) in a cohort of young Italian neurosurgeons and neurosurgical trainees. 1 As the authors note, the imposter phenomenon is characterized by doubt in personal ability and a sense that accomplishments are fraudulent and ill-deserved. Through a survey of neurosurgeons/trainees ≤ 40 years old, the authors examine scores on the Clance Imposter Phenomenon Scale and define scores > 40 (on a range of 6 to 100) to be indicative of IS.

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