How Process Efficiencies can Combat Burnout in Medical Education

Medical student, resident and educator burnout is at an all-time high. The National Library of Medicine estimates 45-56% of medical students had at least one symptom of burnout. 

What causes burnout? 

The three main causes tend to be universal, meaning there may be a need for a systematic shift in the way we approach medical education. The main causes of burnout are:

• Increased paperwork: The average physician spends 2 hours on administrative tasks like billing, charting, and inbox management for each one hour in the clinic. 
• Too many hours at work: The average physician works 50-52 hours per week while the average medical trainee can work as many as 65 hours per week, according to University of Iowa Health Care. 
• Increased digitization: While digitization in the medical community is crucial to providing care, learning new tools and navigating disconnected systems is time consuming. 

How do you “treat” medical education burnout?

A study published in 2019 found workplace wellness programs had no noticeable impact on improving actual metrics associated with burnout. Read further detail on how your institution can help solve burnout at the source through the following ways:

1. Use automation to reduce repetitive tasks 

2. Use tools to make mandatory tasks easier to complete 

3. Leverage data to help students and residents before they burn out