Canadians doctors are struggling with burnout: survey

A new survey suggests that doctors across Canada report poorer mental health than before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Canadian Medical Association’s national physician health survey involved 4,121 physicians, medical residents and medical students who participated between Oct. 13 and Dec. 13, 2021.

The survey says 53 per cent of respondents reported symptoms of burnout, including emotional exhaustion.

This burnout rate is 1.7 times higher than it was in the survey conducted in 2017.

One-quarter of respondents say they have been experiencing severe or moderate anxiety. Almost half of the respondents struggle with depression.

The survey suggests 36 per cent of physicians have had thoughts of suicide at some point in their life, compared to 18 per cent saying they thought about suicide in 2017.

The association’s president, Dr. Alika Lafontaine, said provincial governments across Canada have had an, “obsession with efficiency,” over the last two decades, and health-care providers have not received the support they need to support that.

He said health-care providers, administrators and governments should start working toward pan-Canadian solutions.

Lafontaine, who was recently elected as the first Indigenous president to the Canadian Medical Association, said the federal government can help by working toward more collaboration in health human resources.