Many young doctors report burnout, regret career choice

Tuesday, September 18, 2018 (HealthDay News) – According to a new study, burnout affects nearly half of US resident physicians, which increases their risk of making serious mistakes.

In addition, many of these young doctors regret their career choice, according to researchers at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and Oregon Health & Science University in Portland.

According to the researchers, the specialties with the highest burnout rates are urology, neurology, emergency medicine and general surgery.

"Our data show a great variability in the prevalence of burnout by clinical specialty and that anxiety, social support and empathy during medical school are related to the risk of" burnout ". burnout, "said Dr. Liselotte Dyrbye in a clinical press release.

To examine the factors involved in the burnout of doctors, researchers followed nearly 3,600 medical students from 50 American schools. Participants were interviewed in their fourth and final year of medical school and again in their second year of residency.

Most residents were satisfied with their decision to become a doctor and their chosen specialty, showed the results.

But 45% reported at least one sign of exhaustion. The experience of severe anxiety and low levels of empathy during medical school was associated with this physical and emotional fatigue. The study also revealed that these residents were three times more likely to regret their decision to become a doctor.

This study was funded by the US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. It was published on September 18 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Residents in pathology and anesthesiology who felt exhausted were more likely to say that if they had a choice, they "certainly would not" or "probably not" become doctors again.

Sex and ethnicity also played a role in the burnout of doctors, noted the study's authors.

Women were more exposed than men to signs of burnout. And Hispanic residents were also more likely to regret their specialty choice. Researchers reported that these physicians are often under pressure to participate in institutional diversity initiatives that could make their schedules more demanding than those of non-minority residents.

More information

The US Department of Health and Social Services is more concerned with physician burnout.