Study Points to ‘Counterintuitive’ Racial Differences in Physician Burnout

As physician burnout continues to be a pressing issue in medicine, this new survey finds that Black, Asian, and Latinx doctors are less likely to report experiencing it than their white colleagues. Out of more than 4,400 U.S. physicians, nearly 45% of the white physicians in the survey reported burnout, compared to 42% of Asian physicians, 39% of Black doctors, and 37% of Latinx physicians. Black physicians were more likely to say they were satisfied with work-life integration than white doctors. The results of the study may seem “counterintuitive,” the authors say, because physicians of color are more likely to face bias and discrimination, which may also make them more likely to face burnout. More research is needed to examine whether doctors of color fear stigma of reporting burnout, but also to better understand underlying causes of burnout among doctors as a group.