Burnout, withdrawal remain ‘alarmingly high’ among physicians and residents

Key takeaways:

• Six in 10 physicians reported feelings of burnout, up from four in 10 in 2018.
• Most physicians and residents also felt there is a stigma about receiving mental health care.

Most physicians and residents report feelings of burnout, while stigma about receiving mental health care remains prevalent, according to a new report from The Physicians Foundation.

“The main conclusion from the survey is that our current and future physicians continue to face alarmingly high levels of burnout despite the fact that we’re now 2 years down the road from the [COVID-19] pandemic,” Gary Price, MD, president of The Physicians Foundation, told Healio. “Those levels remain significantly higher than pre-pandemic, and they were at a crisis level then.”

A total of 1,020 physicians, 353 residents and 350 medical students responded to the 2024 Survey of America’s Current and Future Physicians, which assessed well-being, perceptions about the state of the health profession and support for mental health care.

The survey showed that six in 10 physicians often have feelings of burnout, up from four in 10 physicians in 2018. Similarly, six in 10 residents also reported feelings of burnout.

There were some areas of emotions where improvement occurred. For example, 30% of physicians felt hopeless or that they had no purpose, compared with 34% to 35% from 2021 to 2023.

Additionally, 38% of physicians reported withdrawing from family, friends and coworkers, which is down from 42% in 2023 and 46% in 2022 and 2021.

However, although these decreases were statistically significant, “the bottom line is that the change is rather small, and the number of physicians who are left dealing with these kinds of feelings is huge,” Price said.

Over half of physicians said they know a physician, peer or colleague who has ever considered, attempted or died by suicide, whereas 12% said they knew someone who considered suicide in the past 12 months.

Price pointed out that several barriers are making the current state of physician well-being worse. Most physicians (77%), residents (75%) and medical students (78%) felt that there is stigma surrounding mental health and seeking mental health care among physicians, while four in 10 physicians were also afraid or knew a coworker who was afraid of seeking mental health care because of questions asked in medical licensure and credentialing.

Survey results show greater positivity among those early into their medical careers because four in 10 residents said that their feelings on the current state of the medical profession are positive.

Meanwhile, five in 10 residents said that they have positive feelings on the future of the profession, whereas only three in 10 physicians felt the same.

“I’m hopeful that, in fact, [medical students’ and residents’] attitudes toward mental health care and their perception about the resources around them [are] better and that change will follow along through their careers,” Price told Healio. “My greatest fear is that it reflects the fact that they haven’t been working in the system as long as the older physicians and they haven’t yet been fully enculturated into that worldview.”

Price added that the respondents highlighted multiple resources and strategies that could help to reduce burnout and improve well-being and mental health.

“They have been loud and clear over the last several years that removing the administrative burdens that are increasingly heaped upon them would help,” he said. “They consistently say that restoring autonomy to them in clinical decision-making and programs such as confidential peer-counseling and hotlines, they’ve all found those very positive.”