While the burden on the medical community may have decreased since its peak during the heart of the pandemic, burnout rates are at all-time highs for many medical specialties. Doctors, nurses and medical specialists are working longer hours and being physically and emotionally exhausted trying to help patients and sift through all the bureaucratic barriers that make their job even harder. It’s hard for all involved, but it’s especially hard on the five specialties we’ll spotlight below.
Five Medical Specialties With The Highest Burnout Rates
Here’s a closer look at the five physician specialties with the highest burnout rates according to a survey of more than 13,000 physician and nonphysician providers across 30 states in the US.
1. Emergency Medicine – 62 percent – It makes sense that emergency medicine providers top this list because they already work in an incredibly hectic environment. You never know what’s going to come through the emergency department, and oftentimes the demand for emergency care can exceed the number of hands available to provide that care, leaving providers overworked and underappreciated.
2. Hospital Medicine – 59 percent – The hospital setting can also be an incredibly stressful area to work, with treatment quotas and complex billing procedures bogging down a doctor’s ability to provide the highest level of care.
3. Family Medicine – 58 percent – While family medicine providers may treat the same patients over the course of many years, that familiarity clearly doesn’t mean that these providers are any less affected by burnout. Again, high patient quotas and ever-changing administrative burdens mean that many family medicine providers are burning out sooner.
4. Pediatrics – 55 percent – It takes a special person to provide medical care to kids, and while it’s never easy to deliver bad news to a patient, the mental and emotional side of pediatrics can really weigh heavy on the even the best providers.
5. Obstetrics And Gynecology – 54 percent – Similarly, medical professionals working in obstetrics and gynecology face a combination of all the burdens listed above. From fertility issues to developmental concerns and other pregnancy-related issues, working in obstetrics and gynecology can be mentally and emotionally draining, so it’s no surprise to see this specialty on the list.
There is no one-size-fits all solution to the problem of physician burnout, but we need to do something as a nation, otherwise the best and brightest minds will leave for other industries, leaving our healthcare system worse off. We need to remove administrative burdens, put patients and providers ahead of bottom lines and provide more services to ensure all workers have access to mental health counseling and other supportive services so that their health isn’t overlooked.
My thoughts are with my fellow specialists, and we hope that you get the supportive services you need if the burden of care is becoming too much. Please take some time to prioritize your health so that you can provide the best care for your patients.