You’re Burned Out. Now What? Burnout Causes and Solutions

Physicians and other professionals are burning out at an alarming and unsustainable rate. Burnout solutions aren’t simple or easy to implement, but they are necessary.

If you feel overwhelmed, exhausted, and have little control over your life and its schedule, you may be experiencing burnout. Or you might just be a resident. Burnout is tough on the individual, and it leads to poor patient care, as well.

What can you do once you’ve started to feel symptoms of burnout? Dr. James Turner has felt some of these symptoms himself, and he has a few suggestions.

You’re Burned Out. Now What? Burnout Causes and Solutions

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Write down a list with three columns. On the left, write down the parts of your job that you love. In the middle, write down the things about your job that you cannot stand. 

1: Change your focus

In the third column on the right, write down the goals that your employer has laid out for you. For each part of your job that you would like to diminish, focus on something that matches your “love” column and your “employer’s goals” column.

Then, go meet with your chair/boss/whomever. Explain to them that you would like to do less of that thing you hate, focus more on what you love, and that this will help them meet your employer’s goals as outlined in the third column.

Achieving financial independence as quickly as possible so that you can choose to practice medicine because you want to, and not because you have to. When you reach this goal, you can do whatever you want – and no one else will have a say in that.

2: Financial Independence

The truth is that many physicians find that they still love their job when they just do less of it. It’s often a balance issue, and part-time work can be a great fix.

3:  Part-time work

Some physicians opt to go and work for industry, pharmacy, or insurance companies. It may mean getting more involved in medical school education or some other non-clinical endeavor.

4: Change Jobs

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