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Physician Burnout Pervasive: 1 in 2 Internists Affected
Cheryl Clark, for HealthLeaders Media, August 21, 2012
Physicians are more likely to be burned out and dissatisfied with life than workers in other professions, more stressed than other workers of similar education levels, and ED doctors, internal medicine specialists, and neurologists are the most burned out of all.
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For example, 65% of emergency room doctors, 55% of internists, and 52% of neurologists indicated they were burned out. The study found 45% of general surgeons, 40% of neurosurgeons, 32% of dermatologists, and 30% of preventive or occupational or environmental medicine practitioners indicated burnout.
Among other specialty practices, family medicine doctors reported 50% burnout rates, otolaryngologists, orthopedic surgeons, anesthesiologists, obstetrician/gynecologists, radiologists and physical medicine specialists reported between 46% and 50%.
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Comments are moderated. Please be patient.
Dike Drummond MD (8/29/2012 at 12:15 PM)
The literature on burnout over the last 20 years is completely consistent with this study. 1 in 3 doctors on average are suffering from symptomatic burnout on any given office day. These statistics are worldwide, regardless of the docotor's specialty OR the type of healthcare delivery system. The biggest cause is the conditioning of our healthcare educational system which effectively installs a survival mechanism in all doctors that has four key components. Workaholic Superhero Emotion Free Lone Ranger This is a key set of skills we all must use to survive training and NOT a great way to live a life. It is this programming that is primarily responsible for the epidemic of burnout we see in medicine. The additional post-graduation stresses of "the business of medicine", our complete lack of functional leadership skills and the uncertainties of political "reform" and the changing practice landscape - 75% of doctors are projected to be employees by 2013 - not to mention raising a family with this #800 gorilla of a career. It is a recipe for this dysfunction. Where do we go from here? It is a multifactorial answer. The doctors need the skills to lower stress and prevent burnout as individuals. That is why I created my website. We know what works to create a more resilient doctor and prevent burnout and it is rarely taught in the standard medical school and residency curriculum. And organizations bear a large responsibility because it is so darn easy to focus on the patient .... and not see that - in healthcare especially - the health and wellbeing of the provider has a direct impact on the quality and healing at the level of the patient. We have a moral, ethical and business imperative to support the wellness of the providers and not treat doctors like piece workers on a production line. These are immensely important topics that deserve more than a blog comment to do them justice. If you REALLY want to explore this issue in a way that has a chance to create meaningful change. Please contact me through my website. The doctors are the canary in the coal mine of modern healthcare ... unfortunately that same canary is the one coordinating the care of everyone in your system... and we cannot afford to let them drop. My two cents, Dike Dike Drummond MD TheHappyMD (dot) com
Marc Boisvert (8/24/2012 at 9:50 AM)
This study brings to light in a formal way and validates what many of us have been feeling for a long time. Our professional representative organizations should be tasked to keep this information in the public eye and hammer it home in every discussion of health care reform.
Randall Oates, M.D. (8/23/2012 at 6:12 AM)
If the proper EHR is implemented in the proper fashion, the results are a reduction in physician stress and better patient care. Unfortunately, almost all EMR products are actually designed to either turn doctors into distracted data trolls or encourage them to throw in globs of garbage information (i.e. templates containing multiple data items that may or may not actually have been validated). Soon, we will look at the current, common approach to selecting and implementing an EHR as the insanity that it is. A proper approach actually removes distractions interfering with the doctor-patient interaction which improves the experience for both while improving the quality of care and the capacity of the physician to see more patients without getting on a "hamster wheel."