The purpose of the current research was to explore stress and burnout levels of breast radiologists and predict their intent to stay within the radiology profession. A cross-sectional electronic survey was implemented. Respondents were recruited from the membership of the Society of Hungarian Radiologists. Main measures included work-related stress, burnout (Mini Oldenburg Scale), direct supervisor?s influence on stress, and willingness to stay within radiology. Multivariate linear regression, removing outliers, was performed. A total of 11.4% of respondents answered that they "always" and "often" think about leaving breast radiology. A greater influence on work-related decisions resulted in increased intention to stay (r 5 0.521, P 5 0.041). Greater burnout at work, however, decreased the intention to stay in radiology (r 5 0.342, P < 0.001). After controlling for the direct supervisor?s influence on reducing staff stress, it significantly moderated the relationship between intention to stay and burnout (r 5 0.342, P < 0.001 vs. rpartiall 5 0.271, P < 0.001). Intent to stay was significantly explained by the supervisor?s ability to reduce staff stress, followed by the number of patients per day, number of years of work, and stress caused by conveying bad news to patients. This study demonstrated that at least 11% of radiologists were at risk of leaving their profession. Stress during doctorpatient communication has a significant impact on the intention to leave the profession. The role of direct supervisors in buffering staff stress is a major predictor of stay in the radiology profession. Key findings:
Our research has confirmed that leadership behaviors, particularly as they relate to the experience and reduction of workplace stress, is one of the most important predictors of occupational retention.
Communication stress (caused by managing difficult interactions with patient, delivering bad news) is a main cause of radiology profession drop-out.
Up to 11% of staff working in the field of breast radiology could leave their profession in the short period of time in following years, which would be a significantly impact for the healthcare system.  Kulcsszavak: breast radiologist, stress, burnout, intent to leave