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Here are a few of the more common symptoms of burnout med-
ical professionals often experience:
• Being emotionally overextended or exhausted by one's work
• Depression or anxiety that adds up instead of fluctuating due to
life circumstances
• Stress or frustration that is ignored or unacknowledged
• Feeling like your work isn't good enough or is ineffective
• Feeling cynical, particularly toward your team or patients
These telltale signs of burnout tend to build up over time unless
you take action to manage them. If you start to experience
burnout, the next step is to identify its root cause, which can be
limited to a specific issue or, more likely, a combination of fac-
tors. The most common causes of burnout include:
• Pressure to focus on volume over quality
• Too many hours at work
• Loss of autonomy or control
• Excess bureaucratic work
• Disproportionate expenses to income
• Increasing regulatory burdens
• Personal or home stressors
• Difficult or unappreciative patients
• Declining rewards or income
It's important to identify the causes of burnout before putting a
plan in place to avoid it. When you recognize the telltale signs,
you can take effective action toward prevention and treatment.
— Jeffrey M. Smith, MD
SELF-ASSESSMENT
You Might Be Burned Out If …
