title: Medical Graduates, Tertiary Hospitals, and Burnout: A Longitudinal Cohort Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Burnout among junior doctors can affect patient care. We conducted a longitudinal cohort study designed to explore the incidence of burnout in medical interns and to examine the changes in burnout during the course of the intern year.
  
  
  METHODS
  Interns were recruited at two tertiary hospitals in Brisbane, Australia (n=180). Participants completed surveys at four time points during their internship year. All interns (100%) completed the baseline survey during their orientation. Response rates were 85%, 88%, and 79%, respectively, at 5-week, 6-month, and 12-month follow-up.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Interns reported high levels of personal and work-related burnout throughout the year that peaked at 6 months with mean scores of 42.53 and 41.81, respectively. Increases of 5.1 points (confidence interval [CI] 2.5,7.7; P=0.0001) and 3.5 points (CI 1.3,5.6; P=0.0015) were seen at 6 months for personal and work-related burnout, respectively. The mean score for patient-related burnout at 12 months was 25.57, and this number had increased significantly by 5.8 points (CI 3.2,8.5; P<0.0001) throughout the year. Correlation with demographic variables (age, sex) were found. The total incidence of burnout was 55.9%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study showed that burnout is a common problem among interns. The high incidence of burnout demonstrates the need for appropriate strategies to prevent adverse effects on doctors' quality of life and on the quality of care patients receive.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia ; Junior Doctor Society, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Woolloongabba, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Justin M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Parr
authors.affiliation: Resident Medical Officer Society, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Nigel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pinto
authors.affiliation: Junior Doctor Society, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Woolloongabba, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hanson
authors.affiliation: Resident Medical Officer Society, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Ashlea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Meehan
authors.affiliation: Junior Doctor Society, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Woolloongabba, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Peter T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Moore
keywords: Burnout–professional; education–medical; internship and residency; stress–psychological