The level of burnout in a group of dental research assistants

Working as doctor or dentist may entail higher levels of burnout than experienced by the general population. Maslach Burnout Inventory, evaluates emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment. This article presents data conserning levels and sources of burnout in dental research assistants taking postgraduate education in two dental schools in Turkey. One, a new school and the other, an established school. In this study we aimed to investigate if there was an association between the level of burnout and sociodemographic factors and to measure the level of burnout in dental research assistants. Seventy‐eight dental research assistants working in two different dental schools participated in the study. Sociodemographic data were obtained. Sociodemographic characteristics were not significantly different between the two dental schools. In addition, there were statistically significant differences between the two schools in personal accomplishment, depersonalization and work related strain, but no significant difference in emotional exhaustion. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.