Rates of burnout among primary care physicians is a growing concern in the health care workforce.

Major shifts in the practice environment — from truncated office visits and growing documentation requirements to practice consolidation — have changed physicians' sense of efficacy and autonomy, both of which are important factors in work satisfaction.

The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened these concerns as many physicians have been working long hours while experiencing supply shortages and facing significant health risks themselves.

Samuel Edwards, assistant professor of medicine at the Oregon Health and Science University, joins Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil on A Health Podyssey to discuss his new research published in the June 2021 issue of Health Affairs investigating burnout in primary care practices.

They describe the characteristics of practices where clinical and nonclinical staff both report an absence of burnout and compare them to practices where burnout rates are high.

Listen to Alan Weil and Samuel Edwards discuss physician burnout, its prevalence in primary care practices, and the implications of their research on the practice of medicine.

This episode is sponsored by the Rural Health Research Gateway at the University of North Dakota.

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