Physician Burnout: a Brief Review of Its Definition, Causes, and Consequences

Burnout among physicians is a potential warning to the health system and one of the prime occupational hazards of recent years. Burnout is characterized by emotional, mental, and physical fatigue. Numerous studies have shown that burnout has a high prevalence among physicians, such that about one-third of them are affected at some point in their career. A recent study from the United States reported that 45.8% of physicians present at least one symptom of burnout. Statistics indicating one suicide per day among physicians show the urgency of the matter and the need for improvement. It has been reported that this syndrome may even start from the beginning of medical studies such that medical students and r=is review article, we describe the main cause and consequences of physician burnout. To investigate the issue, the two keywords of “burnout” and “physician” were searched in PubMed, Medline, Sciences Direct, and Google Scholar. We did a comprehensive literature review to extract any recent related content about the cause and consequences of physician burnout. Drawing from the studied literature, it is concluded that to address the issue, first, the elements of physicians’ wellness and satisfaction should precisely be determined, then necessary interventions should be adopted to improve the situation.