Physicians in internal medicine struggle to find happiness both in and outside the workplace, according to Medscape’s 2020 Lifestyle, Happiness, and Burnout Report.
Only 22% of internists reported that they were very happy at work, with only neurologists reporting a worse at-work happiness rate, according to the Medscape report.
The news wasn’t much better when it came to happiness outside the office, as only 48% of internists reported they were very happy. Once again, neurologists had the lowest happiness rate outside the office, at 44%.
The rate of burnout among internists, at 43%, was similar to that of physicians overall at 41%; 14% of internists reported that they were both burned out and depressed. The most common contributing factors to burnout for internists were having too many bureaucratic tasks (62%), receiving a lack of respect from colleagues (34%), and spending too many hours at work (33%).
Internists dealt with burnout by isolating themselves from others (47%), talking with family/friends (45%), and exercising (41%). In addition, only 41% of internists took 3-4 weeks’ vacation, less than the 44% for physicians overall, and 43% took less than 3 weeks of vacation.
About 14% of internists said that they’d contemplated suicide, and 1% reported that they’d attempted it; 80% said they’d never thought about suicide. Only 16% said that they were seeking or planning to seek professional help for symptoms of burnout or depression, and 64% said they weren’t planning on seeking help and had never done so in the past.
The Medscape survey was conducted from June 25 to Sept. 19, 2019, and involved 15,181 physicians.