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Nearly half of all midcareer physicians, those between the ages of 40 and 54, said they felt burned out, according to a recent survey.
Of the generation X doctors surveyed by medical-information platform Medscape, 48% said they felt burned out versus 39% of baby boomers, ages 55 to 73, and 38% of millennials, ages 25 to 39.
Almost half of all the 15,000 respondents (49%) said that they would take a substantial pay cut of $10,001 to $20,000 to achieve a better work-life balance.
Burnout is long-term, unresolved, work-related stress that can manifest as exhaustion, cynicism, detachment or lack of a sense of personal accomplishment.
The online survey found an overall physician burnout rate of 42%, which is slightly down from 46% five years ago. That survey mirrors the results from a triennial study from the AMA, the Mayo Clinic, and Stanford University School of Medicine.
Researchers who study physician well-being say the stage of a doctor’s career might account for much of the age-related differences, not that there is something different between generations.
“The Gen Xers are in the prime of their professional careers, at their busiest and perhaps most stressed point, and perhaps with more family competing pressures than younger physicians,” said Gary Price, the president of the Physicians Foundation, a nonprofit group that advocates for physicians, according to the WSJ.
