Burnout among French GPs in training: a cross-sectional study

French GPs in training have an important role in making hospitals function and are the future workforce, however burnout among this group is not uncommon.

To assess burnout among French trainees.

Descriptive, epidemiological, transverse cross-sectional study in France.

All 6309 French trainees attending a meeting to choose their next 6-month placement (March 2011), were invited to complete a written questionnaire including the Maslach Burnout Inventory, items about their health, and how they felt about medical internship.

A total of 4050 anonymous questionnaires were analysed (response rate: 64.2%). The percentage of trainees with high levels of emotional exhaustion was 16.0%, 33.8% had a high score for depersonalisation, and 38.9% had a high score for low personal accomplishment. A total of 41.9% had no high score at all and 6.5% (n = 283) presented three high scores. Notable associations were found between burnout and workload, lack of acknowledgement for trainees' work, working in accident and emergency departments, and lack of time devoted to private life.

This is the first French national survey about burnout in French GP trainees. It confirms the findings of previous French regional studies, which showed an increased rate of depersonalisation but decreased rates of emotional exhaustion. Trainees play an important role in the French health system: they represent tomorrow's doctors, so these results are worrying for the French public-health system. They imply a need for action by doctors, professional bodies, and healthcare organisations. A few preventive measures could be tested, such as creating an employment contract for trainees, helping trainees to assume responsibilities step by step, and putting more thought into training in outpatient clinics.