Burnout among medical residents: key drivers and practical mitigating strategies

Abstract

Burnout is a prevalent phenomenon in medicine, affecting >50% of physicians and up to 60% of medical residents. This has negative consequences for both doctors' mental health and job satisfaction as well as patient care quality. While numerous studies have explored the causes, psychological effects, and workplace solutions, we aim to practicalize the issue from the perspectives of residents by discussing three key drivers of burnout and offering actionable, multipronged strategies that may be able to tackle these root causes effectively. From review of relevant literature and personal reflections/experiences, we identified three key factors that contribute to resident burnout, namely, (i) inherent physician attributes, (ii) mismatched expectations of the medical profession, and (iii) stressful nature of clinical work and residency training for junior physicians. We offer practical strategies that can be implemented by various stakeholders in a concerted manner to target these three areas, namely, to inculcate and foster accurate perception of the medical profession at the outset, develop psychological strength/resilience among medical residents, and make practical improvements to working and training environments.

Keywords: medical education; training.