Resident well-being: Prevent burnout and prioritize self-care
As a family physician, you focus on taking care of others. But don't forget about yourself.
The transition to residency
Medical school. Rotations. The Match. Boards. No one said the journey from student to resident would be easy.
The new responsibilities of residency will bring your mission to care for others into sharper focus. The work is always rewarding, but it doesn’t let up. It’s vitally important to guard against unwelcome guests like stress, burnout and depression.
of family physicians report being burned out, 4th highest of any specialty.
The care you give yourself is just as important as the well-being of your patients. It’s like they tell you on the airplane: “Put your mask on before helping others.” When you’re paying close attention to your mental and physical health, you’ll be able to provide the best possible care to others.
AAFP’s resources will help optimize your well-being and work-life balance during residency.
Recognize the signs of burnout
When it comes to feeling burned out, we as family physicians rank high; only emergency physicians, obstetricians/gynecologists and oncologists reported higher rates of burnout, according to a 2024 Medscape study.
The American Medical Association characterizes burnout as a long-term stress reaction characterized by depersonalization. This can include a lack of empathy for patients and cynical or negative attitudes toward them.
Other signs you may be experiencing burnout:
Chronic stress: Feeling constant pressure to perform may cause physical symptoms.
Exhaustion: No matter how much sleep you get, you don’t feel recharged.
Doubting yourself: Feeling like what we do as physicians doesn’t matter. Questioning if we're making a difference.
Trouble focusing: We may dread tasks and lack creativity, leading to poor performance at work.
Anxiety: Feeling like you're not in control of your schedule or your downtime.
Burnout or depression? Know the difference
It’s important to understand the difference. Burnout is typically triggered by work-related factors, while depression involves all areas of life. If work stress follows you home and turns into despair, hopelessness or suicidal ideation, you may be experiencing depression, and it needs to be treated.
Reach out to a family member, colleague or mental health professional to start the conversation about how you’re feeling. Make it an ongoing dialogue. Talk to your primary care physician—they treat more than 75% of depression in the United States.
If you are having thoughts about suicide or hurting yourself, reach out for help immediately. Contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or the Physician Support Line at 888-409-0141.
Make a self-care plan
The demands of residency can be daunting, and the concept of “free time” or “down time” may seem fanciful. But it’s critical you prioritize time to take care of yourself, not just mentally, but physically too.
Besides the big-ticket items—exercise, quality food and sleep—keep in touch with friends. Connections outside the office are vital to maintaining a healthy balance.
Self-care: Physical
Aim for 150 minutes of vigorous exercise per week. Exercise outdoors if possible.
Self-care: Mental
Practice mindfulness or meditation to increase your sense of well-being and focus.
Creating a culture of well-being
A big step toward reducing family physician burnout is to address its root causes. A recent study from the University of California-San Francisco found two main factors: too much time spent at home on electronic health record (EHR) tasks and a lack of strong nurse-physician core teams.
“Clinical leaders and policymakers seeking to develop care delivery models that enable sustainable primary care practice should focus on ensuring adequate team support and acceptable EHR workloads for physicians,” the study’s authors wrote.
The AAFP strongly believes physician burnout is a health system, organization, practice and physician culture problem, not just an individual concern. Therefore, the AAFP takes a systems-based approach to identifying and combating root causes of physician burnout at all levels of the family physician ecosystem.
As a trusted partner for members interested in developing their personal resilience skills, the AAFP is committed to providing resources to support members’ well-being and professional satisfaction. These resources are available to all AAFP members, including students, residents, active members and life members.