News

A new Medscape survey reaffirms what the medical community knows: burnout is on the rise.

The site conducted a survey between June 29 and September 26, 2021. You can see the entire survey here with your Medscape log-in. The survey had responses from more than 13,000 physicians practicing more than 29 specialties.

All told, 47% of respondents reported feeling burned out, which was up from 42% last year. Outpatient clinic physicians (58%) had a higher burnout rate than office-based solo practices (39%) and "other" practice types (46%).

The most burned-out specialty is emergency medicine, with a reported 60% of respondents feeling burned out. That was up from 43% in last year's survey. The specialties with the highest burnout rates following included critical care (56%), OB/GYN (53%), infectious disease (51%), and family medicine (51%).

The top reasons for burnout? Not COVID directly, but bureaucratic tasks (60%), lack of respect from coworkers (39%), and long hours (34%).

MSDC has launched the Healthy Physician Foundation to help address burnout, addiction, and their causes. Learn more about the foundation and how you can support it here.