Before the pandemic, a large majority of internists reported that they were generally happy with life outside of work, although by specialty, they were near the bottom in happiness.
But this year’s Medscape Internist Lifestyle, Happiness & Burnout Report 2021 shows a sharp drop, with just 55% of respondents saying they are somewhat or very happy in life outside work, compared with 78% last year.
Internists were not alone among the more than 12,000 physicians who responded to the survey. The contrast from last year’s report was clear for physicians in general and reflects COVID-19’s substantial toll on clinicians.
Just 58% of physicians overall reported happy lives outside work, down from 82% last year.
Perhaps not surprising, given the particular demands on certain specialties, physicians in infectious disease were the least happy, at 45%, followed by pulmonologists (47%) and rheumatologists and intensivists, at 49%.
The highest happiness level was reported by those in diabetes and endocrinology, at 73% this year, but that proportion was also substantially lower than the 89% from last year.
Burnout has ‘strong impact on lives’
The percentage of internists who reported burnout or depression, however, has stayed fairly consistent.
More than half (52%) said that burnout had a strong or severe impact on their lives, and nearly 1 in 10 said it was severe enough that they are considering leaving medicine.
One percent of the internists who responded to the survey said they had attempted suicide, and 12% said they had thoughts of suicide but had not attempted it.
Most of those reporting burnout (82%) said it started before the COVID-19 pandemic, but 18% said it began with the pandemic.
Notably, though, physicians ranked problems related to stress from COVID-19 near the bottom among burnout drivers. The top factor, by far, again, was “too many bureaucratic tasks.”
A large majority (78%) of internists work online for up to 10 hours a week, a number that could grow as telemedicine grows.