Burnout in medical students: examining the prevalence and associated factors.
OBJECTIVE
Burnout has been described as a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and decreased personal accomplishment, and may originate during medical school. The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of burnout and contributing factors in medical students.


METHODS
A survey was administered to 249 medical students using a modified Maslach Burnout Inventory Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) and scales of stressors, assessment of workload, relaxation, control, accomplishment, support systems, and demographics.


RESULTS
Moderate or high degree of burnout was seen in 21% of the first year class, 41% of the second year class, 43% of the third year class, and 31% of the fourth year class (P < 0.05). Lower support, higher stress, and lack of control over one's life were significantly related to burnout using multivariate analysis.


CONCLUSIONS
Burnout progressively develops over the course of medical education, while a high level of support and low stress decreased burnout.
Santen
Sally A
SA
Emory School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. ssanten@emory.edu
Holt
Danielle B
DB
Kemp
Jean D
JD
Hemphill
Robin R
RR
D000328:Adult; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D015995:Prevalence; D012577:Schools, Medical; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013714:Tennessee; D013997:Time Factors