Physician Burnout: Resilience Training is Only Part of the Solution

Abstract

Physicians and physician trainees are among the highest-risk groups for burnout and suicide, and those in primary care are among the hardest hit. Many health systems have turned to resilience training as a solution, but there is an ongoing debate about whether that is the right approach. This article distinguishes between unavoidable occupational suffering (inherent in the physician’s role) and avoidable occupational suffering (systems failures that can be prevented). Resilience training may be helpful in addressing unavoidable suffering, but it is the wrong treatment for the organizational pathologies that lead to avoidable suffering— and may even compound the harm doctors experience. To address avoidable suffering, health systems would be better served by engaging doctors in the co-design of work systems that promote better mental health outcomes.