Physician Burnout: Are We Treating the Symptoms Instead of the Disease?

John J. Squiers, Kevin W. Lobdell, James I. Fann, J. Michael DiMaio

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

71 Scopus citations

Abstract

Despite increasing recognition of physician burnout, its incidence has only increased in recent years, with nearly half of physicians suffering from symptoms of burnout in the most recent surveys. Unfortunately, most burnout research has focused on its profound prevalence rather than seeking to identify the root cause of the burnout epidemic. Health care organizations throughout the United States are implementing committees and support groups in an attempt to reduce burnout among their physicians, but these efforts are typically focused on increasing resilience and wellness among participants rather than combating problematic changes in how medicine is practiced by physicians in the current era. This report provides a brief review of the current literature on the syndrome of burnout, a summary of several institutional approaches to combating burnout, and a call for a shift in the focus of these efforts toward one proposed root cause of burnout.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1117-1122
Number of pages6
JournalAnnals of Thoracic Surgery
Volume104
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2017

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Surgery
  • Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine
  • Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine

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