In this chapter, we cover 8 of the main contributors to physician burnout. Here is a sneak peek at the top 3:
- Excessive admin burden
According to a recent report by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), Canadian doctors spend 18.5 million hours on unnecessary paperwork and admin tasks each year. This work often reduces the number of patients physicians can see and creates a significant after-hours work burden.
- Staffing shortages
Growing physician and nurse shortages create additional unsustainable demand on the current healthcare workforce. By 2028, Canada is estimated to be short 44,000 physicians and Ontario alone is estimated to be short 33,000 nurses and PSWs.
- Demanding hours
64% of Canadian physicians note a lack of time to engage in self-care while nearly half report considering a reduction of hours at work. High expectations for on-the-job hours begin early, with many resident doctors putting in 60 or even 80-hour workweeks (and also reporting higher levels of burnout than independently practising physicians).
Can you guess the remaining contributors to burnout in medicine? We cover 5 more in the full version of the Physician’s Guide to Tackling Burnout.
