Response: Re: Burnout in Young Family Physicians: Variation Across States

Dr. Kendall brings up valuable considerations as we seek to understand the personal and institutional factors influencing physician burnout. As Dr. Mack discussed in his commentary1, family physicians experience burnout at rates that are higher than average for many reasons, including less time spent in direct patient care, more administrative burdens, and more work hours.2 Relevant policies and culture in family medicine and health care vary at the state level, allowing states to function as real-life laboratories; understanding state-level variation can help us to identify and remedy the underlying causes of burnout. Dr. Kendall offers 3 major criticisms of our study that are largely beyond the scope of our study but suggest avenues for future research.