The American Board of Family Medicine obtained data from the inaugural National Graduate Survey in 2016 revealing symptoms of burnout from emotional exhaustion and callousness at 39.8% and 23.7%, respectively.

Burnout refers to the psychological exhaustion resulting from long-term stress, and it puts physicians at risk for poor mental health, decreased productivity, and abandonment of career medicine. The data included two validated questions measuring emotional exhaustion and callousness. Only states with sample sizes of over 30 respondents were included. Variation among the states ranged from a rate of 55.4% emotional exhaustion in Minnesota to 16.1% in South Carolina. Colorado reported the highest rate of callousness or depersonalization at 35.3%, while South Carolina reported the lowest rate at 9.7%.

Variation among states suggests that there may be state-level factors, such as policies, payer-mix, or even culture that affect burnout.

The complete Article Burnout in Young Family Physicians: Variation Across States may be found here.

Inquiries and correspondence should be addressed to Lars E. Peterson, MD, PhD, American Board of Family Medicine, 1648 McGrathiana Parkway, Suite 550, Lexington, KY 40511-1247