Physician burnout can affect your health

There is a severe and worsening epidemic of physician burnout in the United States, which threatens the health of doctors and patients alike. What is burnout? How does it affect doctors? And, how can this affect patient care? Finally, what can be done about this issue, to breathe life and energy back into the field of medicine? What does physician burnout look like? Burnout among doctors is generally described in terms of a loss of enthusiasm for one’s work, a decline in satisfaction and joy, and an increase in detachment, emotional exhaustion, and cynicism. It manifests in disproportionately high rates of depression, substance abuse, and suicide. Annually, approximately four hundred physicians take their own lives in the United States. A 2016 study published by the Mayo Clinic showed a high and increasing rate of physician burnout. Of the almost 7,000 physicians who responded to the survey, 54.4% “reported at least one symptom of burnout in 2014 compared with 45.5% in 2011.” Satisfaction with work-life balance also declined, but this is no huge surprise given that, as a whole, physicians are working more and earning less. In other words, more than half of US physicians are experiencing at least some degree of burnout. Moreover, many doctors are leaving medicine mid-career, which, among other things, causes patients to have to start all over again with a new doctor. Other physicians are cutting back their hours, which makes it more difficult for patients to obtain timel...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Health Managing your health care Source Type: blogs