Female physicians are more likely than their male counterparts to experience burnout, according to a paper published in the Kansas Journal of Medicine.
The paper outlined four key reasons female residents are more prone to burnout, and some ways to prevent it:
- Women feel pressure to show they can "do it all" in a field dominated by men. Many feel like men have more permission to compartmentalize certain tasks. Female residents also feel as though they have less control over their time at home and in the workplace and less control over scheduling.
- Female physicians are often mistaken for other healthcare professionals, including nurses. This contributes to the feeling that women do not belong in a physician role.
- There is a lack of female mentorship in medicine. Cultivating more female physician mentors could improve resident retention.
- Women often microaggressions in the workplace. By conducting extensive training for all residents and faculty, microaggressions against women in medicine could decrease.