Background: Over 50% of practicing physicians in the United States report burnout with internal medicine having some of the highest rates. The aim of our study is to identify factors that contribute to burnout in academic hospitalists and the impact that COVID-19 has had on this phenomenon.
Methods: 19 academic hospitalists at Froedtert Hospital & Medical College of Wisconsin were recruited to participate in qualitative focus groups conducted via Zoom during February 2022. A question guide was developed by the research team, which covered contributors to burnout and the impact of COVID-19 on the perception of burnout in academic hospitalists. These sessions were audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded for emergent themes by a team of medical students using Taguette, an open-source qualitative data analysis tool.
Results: The contributors to the perception of burnout in academic hospitalists were identified. Common themes included high workload, bureaucratic hurdles, extensive documentation, and a lack of control over administrative decisions. COVID-19-specific factors that uniquely contributed to the already present burnout were also discussed. Recurrent themes included fear and emotional stress of exposing loved ones, social isolation both in and out of the workplace, and patient skepticism regarding vaccinations and other COVID-19 safety protocols.
Conclusions: In addition to the traditional contributors of burnout in academic hospitalists such as documentation and bureaucratic hurdles, the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced unique stresses that worsen burnout. Our results may be useful in guiding institutional changes based on the factors identified that contribute to burnout.