Dealing with Physician Burnout

Submitted by: Joshua Huang, University of Alberta

What is Burnout?

According to the World Health Organization, “Burn-out is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three dimensions:

• feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;
• increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and
• reduced professional efficacy.” [1]

Epidemiology

Per the Canadian Medical Association’s 2021 National Physician Health Survey [2]:

• More than 50% of attendings and residents report symptoms of burnout
• Increased among general practitioners, remote/rural practitioners, and physicians with fewer years of work experience
• Higher amongst women (59%) vs men (43%)
• >1.5x increase from 2017 results

Risk Factors [3]

• High workload and long hours
• Limited well-being support
• Job dissatisfaction
• Poor sleep hygiene
• Young age (<30 years)
• Personality characteristics such as cynicism, anxiety, difficulty with emotional regulation
• Impersonal and control orientation

Signs & Symptoms [4]

• Physical: Increased heart rate and blood pressure, restlessness, pain, nausea, decreased immune function, frequent headaches
• Affective: Depressed/changing mood, anxiousness, irritability, heightened tension, hypersensitivity, blunted empathy, anger and fear
• Cognitive – Helplessness, cynical perception, pessimism
• Behavioural – emotional outbursts, declined productivity, increased rate of medical errors
• Motivation – decreased motivation, loss of interest, low morale

Treatment

• Individual-level interventions
  • Engaging in mindfulness-based therapies, cognitive behavioral therapy, and exercise [5]
  • seeking out coaching, writing a gratitude journal, yoga, and building social relationships withpeers and colleagues [6]
• System-level interventions:
  • utilizing multidisciplinary team members to lessen physician workload (i.e. documentation, scribes) [6]
  • implementing large language models (AI) to help with documentation [6]

References:

1. World Health Organization. Burn-out an “occupational phenomenon”: International Classification of Diseases, 2019. May 2019.
2. Canadian Medical Association (CMA), Ipsos. CMA 2021 national physician health survey. Ottawa: The Association; 2022 Aug 24
3. Shalaby, R., Oluwasina, F., Eboreime, E., El Gindi, H., Agyapong, B., Hrabok, M., … & Agyapong, V. I. O. (2023). Burnout among residents: prevalence and predictors of depersonalization, emotional exhaustion and professional unfulfillment among resident doctors in Canada. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(4), 3677.
4. Merlo, G., & Rippe, J. (2021). Physician burnout: A lifestyle medicine perspective. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 15(2), 148-157.
5. Antico, L., & Brewer, J. (2025). Digital mindfulness training for burnout reduction in physicians: Clinician-driven approach. JMIR Formative Research, 9(1), e63197.
6. Guille, C., & Sen, S. (2024). Burnout, depression, and diminished well-being among physicians. New England Journal of Medicine, 391(16), 1519–1527.