45.5 Physician Burnout and the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Silent Epidemic

Physician burnout is a widespread issue that affects both the quality of life of physicians as well as their mental health. A 2021 Medscape study showed that the average physician burnout, across specialties, is 42%, which is the same as in 2020. However, burnout in psychiatrists nationwide increased from 35% in 2020 to 41% in 2021. While there are many hypotheses about the reason for this increase, the most obvious one seems to be the COVID-19 pandemic. Commonly cited reasons for burnout among all physicians include too many bureaucratic tasks (58%), spending too many hours at work (37%), and lack of respect from administrators or colleagues (37%). We administered the Physician Well-Being Index (PWBI) to physicians and trainees at a large academic medical center in the Southeast to assess burnout levels. The PWBI is a validated index that consists of 7 yes/no questions and 2 questions that have a 7-point Likert scale. Data were compared for the period of March 1, 2019 to March 1, 2020 and from March 1, 2020 to January 31, 2021. Among all faculty physicians, there was an increase of the mean score from 1.48 (193 respondents) to 1.49 (225 respondents), a 0.29% increase. Only 6 psychiatry faculty responded to the survey, and among them, the mean score increased from 2.17 to 3.17. This is a 19.34% increase, but the results are preliminary given the small sample size. For trainees in both the organization as a whole and in the psychiatry program, there was a decrease in the mean score. For all trainees, the mean score decreased from 2.70 (145 respondents) to 2.64 (80 respondents). This is a decrease of 2.27%. For psychiatry trainees, the score decreased from 3.79 (19 respondents) to 3.11 (9 respondents). Overall, there was an increase in burnout reported in both all faculty physicians as well as psychiatry faculty, but a decrease in burnout among trainees. The question arises about the well-being of nonrespondents, and if they were in fact too burned out to bother filling out the survey. One possible theory about the decreased burnout among trainees is that the average age of trainees is younger, and they may have felt more ease with the technology used to provide telehealth services during the pandemic. Additionally, trainees teleworked from home, and this has several benefits that could reduce burnout, such as eliminating commute times and having more family time.