Medical Graduates, Tertiary Hospitals, and Burnout: A Longitudinal Cohort Study

Burnout among junior doctors can affect patient care. We conducted a longitudinal cohort study designed to explore the incidence of burnout in medical interns and to examine the changes in burnout during the course of the intern year.

Interns were recruited at two tertiary hospitals in Brisbane, Australia (n=180). Participants completed surveys at four time points during their internship year. All interns (100%) completed the baseline survey during their orientation. Response rates were 85%, 88%, and 79%, respectively, at 5-week, 6-month, and 12-month follow-up.

Interns reported high levels of personal and work-related burnout throughout the year that peaked at 6 months with mean scores of 42.53 and 41.81, respectively. Increases of 5.1 points (confidence interval [CI] 2.5,7.7; P=0.0001) and 3.5 points (CI 1.3,5.6; P=0.0015) were seen at 6 months for personal and work-related burnout, respectively. The mean score for patient-related burnout at 12 months was 25.57, and this number had increased significantly by 5.8 points (CI 3.2,8.5; P<0.0001) throughout the year. Correlation with demographic variables (age, sex) were found. The total incidence of burnout was 55.9%.

Our study showed that burnout is a common problem among interns. The high incidence of burnout demonstrates the need for appropriate strategies to prevent adverse effects on doctors' quality of life and on the quality of care patients receive.