Keck Well-Being Survey

Under the leadership of Dean Carolyn C. Meltzer, MD, we are pleased to have launched the Keck Well-being Survey. This survey was launched in 2023 and is the first ever KSOM institution-wide assessment of factors related to well-being, professional fulfillment, and burnout.

In 2023, the overall response rate to the survey was 31%, including 268/875 or 31% of faculty, 772/1994 or 38% of staff, and 803/3111 or 26% of learners. Response rate across departments, units, and academic programs ranged from 8% to over 88%. Data was added from 67% (684/1016) of Keck Medicine faculty members who received the SCORE survey.

Respondents are provided one of three different survey versions with questions specific to their work or school setting: Nonclinical, Clinical, or Learner.

Areas assessed on the survey included Professional Fulfillment, Burnout, Intent to Leave, Supportive Leadership Behaviors, Personal-Organizational Values Alignment, Control Over Schedule, Negative Impact of Work on Personal Relationships, and Sleep-Related Impairment.

For clinical faculty, additional areas were assessed including EHR Hassles, Efficiency of Clinical Practice, and Meaningfulness of Clinical Work.

For clinical faculty, we were able to benchmark our results against other institutions in the Professional Well-being Academic Consortium (PWAC). PWAC includes 13 free-standing children’s hospitals, 11 state-designated safety net hospitals, and 8 free-standing cancer centers. PWAC does not yet offer national benchmarking for our other populations such as nonclinical faculty, staff, or learners, but these additional benchmarks are anticipated to be published in the near future.

We also looked at race and gender differences across our populations to highlight the relationship between DEI and well-being, and to focus resources in the service of underrepresented voices and groups at Keck.

Department- and school-level results were shared with all Chairs, administrative leaders, and academic program leaders. Results were also shared with the wider Keck community via a survey report. Results will be tracked from year to year and departments will be supported in making local-level changes to improve well-being.

This Action Plan Template is offered to all department chairs and unit leaders to help them make sense of, and act on, the results from the 2023 Keck Well-being Survey. It contains a list of possible well-being interventions which can be personalized to fit the special needs, culture, and interests of each group.