Administrative Tasks Mainly Responsible for Physician Burnout

General surgeons experience high levels of burnout, due in large part to an overabundance of bureaucratic tasks and overwhelming work hours. These are the main findings of the Medscape (New York, NY, USA) 2013 physician lifestyle survey.

The online survey collected responses from 24,216 US physicians in 25 specialties. According to the survey, 42% of general surgeons reported being “burned out,” defined as feeling any or all of the following: cynicism, loss of enthusiasm for work, or low sense of personal accomplishment. These findings matched a 2012 US national survey on physician burnout, which found that about 45.8% of physicians experienced at least one symptom of burnout.

General surgeons were among 10 specialties that reported the highest rate of burnout, with emergency medicine (52%) and critical care (50%) taking the top two spots. Gastroenterologists (GIs) were among 10 specialties that experienced the lowest percentage of burnout, which included pediatricians (35%), psychiatrists (33%), and pathologists (32%). In terms of severity of burnout, general surgeons ranked highly, with a mean score of 3.9 (on a scale of 1-7). Only two specialties reported more severe levels of burnout; OB/GYN at 4.1 and pathologists at 4. GIs had slightly less severe burnout than general surgeons, with a mean score of 3.6.

For both general surgeons and GIs, too many bureaucratic tasks and hours at work as well as the impact of the Affordable Care Act topped the list of main stressors leading to burnout, garnering scores above 4.5. The least important stressors for both specialties were problems with employers, compassion fatigue, and difficult colleagues or staff. The Medscape survey also revealed that the rate of burnout is lowest among the youngest and oldest general surgeons and GIs, peaking in midlife, with 35% of burned-out general surgeons between the ages of 46 and 55 years and 33% of burned-out GIs between the ages of 36 and 45.

This percentage decreases to 11% of general surgeons and 5% of GIs after age 65, probably related to retirement, or reduced hours. Consistent with most specialties, female general surgeons appeared to be slightly more burned out than their male counterparts (43% versus 39%). In terms of physical health, the survey found that burned-out physicians tended to weigh more and exercised less than their less-stressed counterparts exercise. Drinking and smoking habits as well as religiousness did not appear to be associated with level of burnout.

“Surgeons are at particular risk for burnout as we are taught early on that exhaustion is perceived as a status symbol and to base our self-worth on being productive,” commented on the survey Henry Kuerer, MD, PhD, FACS, a professor of surgery at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (Houston, TX, USA). “I worry that the burnout rate may be higher, as the survey might not capture even more harried physicians or those who have left their profession.”

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