[Practical judgment and burn-out syndrome among physicians]

The growing incidence of burn-out syndrome among physicians has become a major concern for public policy. The root causes are not fully understood. We make the assumption that the most powerful cause of their suffering at work is the challenging of physician's practical judgment. Practical judgment is the faculty, which connects knowledge and reason, science and experience, general and individual issues. It lies at the core of medical action and its exercise is closely associated with a pleasure at work. The evolution of medicine, particularly the proliferation of procedures, has a harmful influence on its training and its exercise.