Exercise is top coping method
Responses gave a peek into how physicians are coping with burnout. Among internists, 49% put exercise at the top. Isolating themselves from others was the next most popular choice, at 45%. Eating junk food and drinking alcohol were further down the list, at 34% and 24%, respectively.
Few internists said they drink alcohol daily, a finding consistent with past years. In fact, 29% said they don’t drink at all, and 26% said they have fewer than one alcoholic drink per week. Only 7% said they had seven or more drinks per week.
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism advises that men not have more than 14 alcoholic drinks per week and that women not have more than 7.
Work-life balance topped list of concerns
By far, internists said work-life balance was their top workplace concern. Nearly half (48%) chose that answer, more than twice the percentage who said compensation was the biggest concern (21%).
Asked whether they would take a salary cut for more work-life balance, a similar proportion (46%) said yes.
Forty-three percent of internists manage to take 3-4 weeks of vacation, and 10% take at least 5 weeks, similar to reported vacation time in last year’s survey.
The vast majority are in committed relationships, with 79% reporting that they are married, and 5% reporting that they are living with a partner. Of those who are married, 48% described the marriage as very good; 32%, good; 16%, fair; 2%, poor; and 1%, very poor; 1% preferred not to answer.
One in five internists said their spouse was a physician, and 24% said their spouse worked in the health care field but not as a physician.
Pandemic has increased burnout
Douglas S. Paauw, MD, and Eileen Barrett, MD, two members of the Internal Medicine News editorial advisory board, said they were not surprised by the survey findings.
Dr. Eileen Barrett
“There is more burnout since the pandemic,” said Dr. Paauw, professor of medicine in the division of general internal medicine at the University of Washington, Seattle, and third-year medical student clerkship director at the University of Washington. “People may be working more hours, higher stress, but also, some may be working less hours, are socially isolated, taking on a new role of helping their kids in virtual education, andn living in cramped quarters with family that they may not be accustomed to spending so much time with.”
“Also, most physicians love travel, to detress, get back in balance, and that has by and large been taken away by the pandemic,” Dr. Paauw noted. “Unfortunately, bureaucracy did not go away during the pandemic!
Dr. Barrett, an internal medicine hospitalist, said, “It is most concerning to me today that 12% have had thoughts of suicide, and yet 39% are too busy to seek care for depression or burnout, and 17% aren’t seeking due to fear it will be disclosed,”
“Credentialing, medical license applications, and malpractice insurance applications can and must be changed posthaste to support physicians and stop stigmatizing mental health diagnoses and mental health care,” she said. “Removing application questions about physician mental health will be consistent with recommendations from the Federation of State Medical Boards, medical professional societies, and the Americans with Disabilities Act, and is something actionable and achievable for every organization to do in 2021.” “From a public policy perspective, I am deeply concerned about the physician workforce and how patients will be able to receive care from exhausted, burned out physicians who may be reducing their clinical hours to restore their personal happiness – understandably so,” added Dr. Barrett, who is associate professor in the division of hospital medicine, department of internal medicine, at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.
She pointed out that there are mental health resources available for physicians that don’t go through their employers or insurance such as www.emotionalppe.org/.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.
Katie Lennon contributed to this report.