Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 May 15;16(1):e1-e9.
doi: 10.4102/phcfm.v16i1.4436.

Burnout among community service doctors in South Africa

Gemma M Purbrick  1 , Tejil Morar, Jasmin Kooverjee
Affiliations

Burnout among community service doctors in South Africa

Gemma M Purbrick et al. Afr J Prim Health Care Fam Med. .

Abstract

Background: Burnout in doctors is an important issue with far-reaching consequences. Community service doctors may be particularly vulnerable because of their specific roles (rural settings, junior positions and reduced supervision).

Aim: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of burnout among community service doctors in South Africa (SA), the potential contributory and protective factors and the consequences thereof.

Setting: This was a national study of community service doctors in SA.

Methods: A quantitative, descriptive cross-sectional study was performed. The Maslach Burnout Inventory was used to measure burnout. The online questionnaire also included demographic data, workplace and individual characteristics.

Results: Of the 208 community service doctors analysed, 89% and 94% had high emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation, respectively, while 97% had a low personal accomplishment. Mental illness, financial difficulties, unmanageable volume of patients and female gender were found to be potential contributory factors. Having manageable patient volumes, satisfaction with their decision to study medicine, talking to colleagues and feeling supported by healthcare facility management were among the significant potential protective factors. Significant potential consequences of burnout included: leaving the government sector, ever being diagnosed with a mental illness, using alcohol as a coping mechanism and possible current major depression.

Conclusion: Burnout among community service doctors in SA is highly prevalent with significant potential consequences. There are a number of modifiable possible contributory and protective factors identified that may be targets for mental health interventions.Contribution: Healthcare burnout research is lacking in the African and specifically SA context. This void includes community service doctors.

Keywords: MBI.; South Africa; burnout; community service; junior doctors.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose that may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Burnout prevalence among sample population.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Romani M, Ashkar K. Burnout among physicians. Libyan J Med. 2014. Jan;9(1):23556. 10.3402/ljm.v9.23556 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Erasmus N. Slaves of the state – Medical internship and community service in South Africa. S Afr Med J. 2012. Jun 5;102(8):655. 10.7196/SAMJ.5987 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hatcher AM, Onah M, Kornik S, Peacocke J, Reid S. Placement, support, and retention of health professionals: National, cross-sectional findings from medical and dental community service officers in South Africa. Hum Resour Health. 2014. Dec;12(1):14. 10.1186/1478-4491-12-14 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Maslach C, Jackson S, Leiter M. The Maslach Burnout Inventory manual. In: Zalaquett CP, Wood RJ, editors. Evaluating stress: A book of resources. Palo Alto: The Scarecrow Press; 1997, p. 191–218.
    1. World Health Organization . Burn-out an ‘occupational phenomenon’: International classification of diseases [homepage on the Internet]. 2019. [cited 2022 Mar 14]. Available from: https://www.who.int/news/item/28-05-2019-burn-out-an-occupational-phenom...

LinkOut - more resources