• Suresh K Reddy, Sriram Yennu, Kimberson Tanco, Aimee E Anderson, Diana Guzman, Syed M Ali Naqvi, Humaira Sadaf, Janet Williams, Diane D Liu, and Eduardo Bruera.
• Department of Palliative, Integrative and Rehabilitation Medicine, The University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA. Electronic address: sreddy@mdanderson.org.
• J Pain Symptom Manage. 2020 Jul 1; 60 (1): 8086.e280-86.e2.

ContextPalliative care (PC) physicians are vulnerable for burnout given the nature of practice. The burnout frequency may be variable and reported between 24% and 38% across different countries.ObjectiveThe main objective of our study was to determine the frequency of burnout among PC physicians participating in PC continuing medical education course.MethodsA survey including the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General along with 41 custom questions were administered to determine the frequency of burnout among physicians attending the 2018 Hospice and Palliative Medicine Board review course.ResultsOf 110 physicians, 91 (83%) completed the survey. The median age was 48 years with 65% being females, 81% married, 46% in community practice, 38% in practice for 6-15 years. PC was practiced ≥50% of the time by 62%, and 76% were doing clinical work. About 73 (80%) reported that PC is appreciated at their work, 58 (64%) reported insurance to be a burden, and 58 (64%) reported that the electronic medical record was a burden. About 82 (90%) felt optimistic about continuing PC in future. Maslach Burnout Inventory results suggest that 35 (38%) participants reported at least one symptom of burnout. Only being single/separated showed trend toward significance with burnout (P = 0.056).ConclusionBurnout among PC physicians who attended a board review course was 38%. Being single/separated showed trend toward association with burnout. Physicians who choose to attend continuing medical education may have unique motivating characteristics allowing them to better cope with stress and avoid burnout.Copyright © 2020 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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