Field w/ Highest Burnout Rate?

[Mlee]

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I was looking for some type of research on physican burnout rates by specialty but couldn't find anything.
I know EM is known for having a high burnout rate.
What are some IM fields with high burnout rates?
Thanks.

 

[fedor]

I'm also curious about this not just about burnout post residency but also during residency. I know of a number of people who burned out during their neurosurgery residencies and entered other residencies.

Some of the data is going to be skewed by female physicians who often leave the workforce to raise children.

Does Freida release statistics about the % of residents who finish their training in each specialty?

 

[Mediculous]

I'm also curious about this not just about burnout post residency but also during residency. I know of a number of people who burned out during their neurosurgery residencies and entered other residencies.

Some of the data is going to be skewed by female physicians who often leave the workforce to raise children.

Does Freida release statistics about the % of residents who finish their training in each specialty?

FREIDA does release % of residents that plan on practicing in the same specialty after residency. The numbers are reported to them by RD's. http://www.ama-assn.org/vapp/freida/spcindx/0,,CP,00.html

 

[firetown]

FREIDA does release % of residents that plan on practicing in the same specialty after residency. The numbers are reported to them by RD's. http://www.ama-assn.org/vapp/freida/spcindx/0,,CP,00.html

I was looking at some of the statistics on the website you provided. Very interesting. What is intereting to me is the unemployed side where some have numbers. Are there really doctors who complete residency and are unemployed after maybe one year. I find it hard to believe. There may be some who do not want to practice but I cannot imagine any doctor who after residency will be unemplyed for a couple of months or are there really some who will be unemployed for a long time.

 

[Apollyon]

I know EM is known for having a high burnout rate.

What you know is outdated. The burnouts in EM are/were largely people not trained in EM - IM, FP, surgery, anesthesia, peds, psych (!), pathology (!!), and so on.

 

[(nicedream)]

What you know is outdated. The burnouts in EM are/were largely people not trained in EM - IM, FP, surgery, anesthesia, peds, psych (!), pathology (!!), and so on.

Why were they more likely to burn out? Because it wasn't their first choice?

 

[Apollyon]

Why were they more likely to burn out? Because it wasn't their first choice?

Several reasons: in the "old school", people went to work in the ED when they burned out in their own field; there weren't enough EM-trained docs to fill the spots. Now, 62% of American ED's have at least one EM-trained doc working in them. The people were the problem - already burned or burnout personality types.

Another reason is that EM was not what people were trained in - IM types are not prepared to do trauma, and surgeons flounder at medical management. Anesthesiologists are pretty good, but many gas types prefer the structured style of the OR, vs. the random "heave and ho" of the ED. People from psych or ortho surgery or path are REALLY out of their element. When you're not in the field that you know, the gaps in your training and knowledge are what burn you down and out. When I was prelim IM, our was one of the minority of programs where prelims did clinic, and I HATED it - every week, I could only thing how much it sucked, since I was EM-bound, and knew it. Had I had to do it forever, I would have burned out. That's not a perfect parallel, since other-trained people want (or think they want) to work in the ED, but someone who was suited to work in surgery or IM or Ob/Gyn, and, as such, trained in it, got what they wanted at that time, but it's not the complete picture in the ED.

 

[EctopicFetus]

Agree with Apollyon,

The Em burnout thing is for the "Old Guard" my understanding is that few of the newly trained guys are burning out. Who knows why the reasons given above make sense. So does the fact that many people go on to Acute Care etc. The way the field is right now the old guard gets to work more structured hours.

From what I hear the field with the biggest burn-out (if thats what you call it) is Peds Hem-Onc, I think the emotional toll of this is awful. I know some people in this field and a number of them and their colleagues hade to take time off during their training or right before they started because of the emotional and psychological toll that field takes. I definitely DO NOT have the stats to prove that but from a LOT of heresay that would be my guess. It is a draining field and you have to have the right mindset to be successful. Just throwing in my $0.02

 

[Chief Resident]

From what I've been told: trauma surgeons

 

[imtiaz]

From what I've been told: trauma surgeons

the trauma surgeons i work with say at least once a day that theyre quitting.

 

[island doc]

I was looking for some type of research on physican burnout rates by specialty but couldn't find anything.
I know EM is known for having a high burnout rate.
What are some IM fields with high burnout rates?
Thanks.

There is an article on this subject in this week's issue (Oct. 3), of American Medical News on the front page entitled, "Men, too, see work-life balance." The article addresses the issue of physician's desires to select specialties with better lifestyles.

But, in answer to your question, I would say that the field with the highest burnout is whatever field one no longer wants to be in. Point being, any physician can burn out, if they do not maintain the proper balance in life.

 

[Mlee]

There is an article on this subject in this week's issue (Oct. 3), of American Medical News on the front page entitled, "Men, too, see work-life balance." The article addresses the issue of physician's desires to select specialties with better lifestyles.

But, in answer to your question, I would say that the field with the highest burnout is whatever field one no longer wants to be in. Point being, any physician can burn out, if they do not maintain the proper balance in life.

Awesome - just got it in the mail today! Thanks!