Burnout is a crisis for young physicians—and their spouses
American Medical Association
The AMA promotes the art and science of medicine and the betterment of public health.
AMA survey of 200-plus health systems across U.S. shows which residents are at greatest risk of burnout—and when.
By: Len Strazewski, Contributing News Writer
Physician burnout is a crisis in medicine and a serious problem for individual doctors, but it can hurt more than the professionals who have followed their dream of practicing medicine. Research shows that spouses and other family members of physicians with burnout can also pay a price in their physical and mental health.
Researchers from the Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, California, polled 203 physician spouses in 2021, asking whether the burnout symptoms for their doctor spouses splashed back on them and other family members. The research was conducted by Sarah Adamson Grimmer, PhD and Kristine M. Jacquin, PhD, and published in the journal Mental Health Science .
Participants were asked to complete a biographical questionnaire to gather information such as their age, cultural background, gender identity, marital status, family structure, living arrangement, mental health history, education, employment status, support system, and financial situation.
Nearly 85% of the respondents were women, and 58% were 25–34 years old. One-third of the respondents were in the 35–44-year-old age group, and nearly all (98%) of the respondents were married, engaged or in a long-term domestic partnership with a physician.
Researchers found that one-third of respondents reported that their physician partner was “emotionally exhausted.” They also asked the physician partners to identify psychological issues related to burnout, such as anxiety, depression, and secondary traumatic stress that they identified in their spouses. They found that the psychological distress that spouses reported were not due to several expected, measurable attributes such as agreeableness, resilience, or demographic characteristics.
Rather, the research indicates that while physician spouses don’t exactly mirror the symptoms of their spouses, they do experience secondary psychological distress when they believe their physician partner is experiencing burnout. In that respect, burnout clearly affects their relationships.
The key dynamic was that the more burned out that spouses perceived their physician partner to be, the more anxiety, depression and secondary trauma that they then experienced.
Physician husband spurs research
The relationship between burnout and psychological distress did not depend on the presence of “compassion fatigue,” a measure of response to their partners’ conditions, suggesting that even when spouses were exhausted—physically and emotionally—from supporting their physician partner, there was no change in how the spouse experienced the psychological effects of burnout.
“Reasons for experiencing mental health problems are individual‐specific and depend on a wide variety of factors,” the study says.
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The researchers said that adjusting to life during medical training is a particularly stressful process for physician families, and the psychological effect from burnout continues to affect their spouses after graduation. As a result, physician families need access to appropriate mental health support, particularly during medical training.
Grimmer said she was drawn to the research topic by her own life and relationships. She is married to a physician and was personally familiar with the experience of physicians as they make their way through training.
“He was the biggest motivator of my doing this research. I witnessed what happens to physicians in training and after, and when it came time for choosing my doctoral dissertation topic, this was a natural,” said Grimmer, who wrote an article for the winter 2024 issue of Physician Family Alliance Motion in Magazine that drew upon her research.
To learn more about the research and how burnout is a crisis for young physicians, read the full article here .
Physician burnout demands urgent action
Reducing burnout is essential to high-quality patient care and a sustainable health system. The AMA measures and responds to physician burnout, helping drive solutions and interventions.
Become a member and help the AMA tackle the key causes and provide relief for physicians. Join now.
AMA Recovery Plan for America's Physicians
Learn more about the work the AMA is doing to address physician burnout .
DNP, RN, APNP, ACCNS-AG, CEN, SANE-A, AFN-C | Clinical Nurse Specialist, Nursing Educator/Professor, Forensic Nurse Examiner, Registered Nurse | Expert Witness | Self Proclaimed Policy Wonk
7 个月Burnout is a significant thing in healthcare. Instead of continuously pitting nurses vs doctors, how about we combat that together. If we work together, for the betterment of our patients, then we may actually be able to address our own burnout, moral injury, and combat the corporatization of healthcare. Perhaps if the AMA was more interested in actually collaborating on these issues, we could band together and make REAL CHANGE. -- Dr. Chelsea Collins, RN.
Chief Intensivist/ ICU Director & Internal Medicine Specialist/Internist , Suretech Hospital & Research Institute
7 个月Another important thing I want to share here that - if observe which speciality faced more number of burn out - is critical care My suggestion is that leave ICU after every 3 hours and chat with your friends or carry out OPD were u are seeing and exchanging the ideas with your own patients and I tell you get very good knowledge about the surroundings and yourself exposed to new brain and which in turns sharpens your brain with different skills which can’t be taught by your mentors or professors And you get automatically rejuvenation unknowingly and thereby you remain calm and steady without anxiety and which in turns Happiness and increases life span and reduces burn out Remember Never give up your passion during your profession
Chief Intensivist/ ICU Director & Internal Medicine Specialist/Internist , Suretech Hospital & Research Institute
7 个月Some one above has rightly said Those who can’t handle residency-don’t graduate or don’t opt for PG Young people just doing medicine because they want to become doctor but they don’t during the training how much it’s difficult and burdened with responsibilities which drains one out with adrenaline- in fact because of this ones Longivity reduces But on the other side is also equally true - if some one doing his profession as passion then it’s like an addiction and gives his best by carrying out his task by balancing his four front - 1. Profession 2. Family 3. Sports or hobbies and 4 and which will gives tremendous uncountable satisfaction - and which will not allow to feel like burn out
Reducing medical burnout should be a top priority.
Founder 360 Wellness Village
8 个月Gee I wonder why? The AMA promotes a heirarchical model of care that places all the burden of care on one gatekeeper with a couple of incompetent support staff. Here is a novel question: how can we be better and provide care without waiting 6 months for a primary care appointment or waiting 12-24 hrs in an ER?