Home Research Research Library The Impact of Practicing Obstetrics on Burnout Among Early-Career Family Physicians The Impact of Practicing Obstetrics on Burnout Among Early-Career Family Physicians 2020 Author(s) Barreto, Tyler W, Eden, Aimee R, and Brock, Audrey Topic(s) Role of Primary Care, Achieving Health System Goals, and What Family Physicians Do Keyword(s) Maternity Care, Physician Experience (Burnout / Satisfaction), Practice Organization / Ownership, and Qualitative Volume 52(6):408-413 Source Family Medicine Background and Objectives: According to a previous study, obstetric deliveries may be protective against burnout for family physicians. Analyses of interviews conducted during a larger qualitative study about the experiences of early-career family physicians who intended to include obstetric deliveries in their practice revealed that many interviewees discussed burnout. This study aimed to understand the relationship between practicing obstetrics and burnout based on an analysis of these emerging data on burnout. Methods: We conducted semistructured interviews with physicians who graduated from family medicine residency programs in the United States between 2013 and 2016. We applied an immersion-crystallization approach to analyze transcribed interviews. Results: Fifty-six early-career family physicians participated in interviews. Burnout was an emerging theme. Physicians described how practicing obstetrics can protect from burnout (eg, brings joy to practice, diversity in practice), how it can contribute to burnout (eg, time demands, increased stress), how it can do both simultaneously and the importance of professional agency (ie, the capacity to make own free choices), and other sources of burnout (eg, administrative tasks, complex patients). Conclusions: This study identifies a family medicine-obstetric paradox wherein obstetrics can simultaneously protect from and contribute to burnout for family physicians. Professional agency may partially explain this paradox. ABFM Research Read all 2025 Lifetime Impact of the Gender Wage Gap in Family Medicine Go to Lifetime Impact of the Gender Wage Gap in Family Medicine 2023 A Comparative Effectiveness Study on Opioid Use Disorder Prediction Using Artificial Intelligence and Existing Risk Models Go to A Comparative Effectiveness Study on Opioid Use Disorder Prediction Using Artificial Intelligence and Existing Risk Models 2019 Research gaps in the organisation of primary healthcare in low-income and middle-income countries and ways to address them: a mixed-methods approach Go to Research gaps in the organisation of primary healthcare in low-income and middle-income countries and ways to address them: a mixed-methods approach 2020 Team Configurations, Efficiency, and Family Physician Burnout Go to Team Configurations, Efficiency, and Family Physician Burnout
Author(s) Barreto, Tyler W, Eden, Aimee R, and Brock, Audrey Topic(s) Role of Primary Care, Achieving Health System Goals, and What Family Physicians Do Keyword(s) Maternity Care, Physician Experience (Burnout / Satisfaction), Practice Organization / Ownership, and Qualitative Volume 52(6):408-413 Source Family Medicine
ABFM Research Read all 2025 Lifetime Impact of the Gender Wage Gap in Family Medicine Go to Lifetime Impact of the Gender Wage Gap in Family Medicine 2023 A Comparative Effectiveness Study on Opioid Use Disorder Prediction Using Artificial Intelligence and Existing Risk Models Go to A Comparative Effectiveness Study on Opioid Use Disorder Prediction Using Artificial Intelligence and Existing Risk Models 2019 Research gaps in the organisation of primary healthcare in low-income and middle-income countries and ways to address them: a mixed-methods approach Go to Research gaps in the organisation of primary healthcare in low-income and middle-income countries and ways to address them: a mixed-methods approach 2020 Team Configurations, Efficiency, and Family Physician Burnout Go to Team Configurations, Efficiency, and Family Physician Burnout
2025 Lifetime Impact of the Gender Wage Gap in Family Medicine Go to Lifetime Impact of the Gender Wage Gap in Family Medicine
2023 A Comparative Effectiveness Study on Opioid Use Disorder Prediction Using Artificial Intelligence and Existing Risk Models Go to A Comparative Effectiveness Study on Opioid Use Disorder Prediction Using Artificial Intelligence and Existing Risk Models
2019 Research gaps in the organisation of primary healthcare in low-income and middle-income countries and ways to address them: a mixed-methods approach Go to Research gaps in the organisation of primary healthcare in low-income and middle-income countries and ways to address them: a mixed-methods approach
2020 Team Configurations, Efficiency, and Family Physician Burnout Go to Team Configurations, Efficiency, and Family Physician Burnout
