High educational debt and long work hours are associated with burnout symptoms in early-career family physicians

Relationships of educational debt with hours worked and burnout symptoms among early-career family physicians

2025-09-22

(Press-News.org) Original Research

High Educational Debt and Long Work Hours Are Associated With Burnout Symptoms in Early-Career Family Physicians

Background and Goal: This study examined whether higher educational debt among physicians is associated with more hours worked per week and whether both are independently associated with burnout symptoms among early-career family physicians.

Study Approach: Researchers linked the American Board of Family Medicine Initial Certification Questionnaire (2017 to 2020) to its National Graduate Survey about three years later (2020 to 2023) to form a cohort of 4,905 U.S. early-career family physicians in outpatient continuity care. Educational debt at graduation was grouped as none, under $150,000, $150,000 to $250,000, $250,000 to $350,000, and over $350,000. Weekly work hours were grouped as under 40, 40 to 49, 50 to 59, and 60 or more. Respondents were classified as having symptoms of burnout by reporting at least weekly to either of two single-item questions.

Main Results:

Out of 4,905 early-career family physicians, about 18% had no educational debt, and about 16% owed more than $350,000.

Physicians with higher debt tended to work more hours per week.

The more hours a physician worked, the more likely they were to report burnout symptoms.

In unadjusted analyses, burnout symptoms increased stepwise with debt. After adjustment analyses, physicians with $250,000–$350,000 and those with more than $350,000 had higher odds of reporting burnout symptoms compared with those with no debt.

Compared with working under 40 hours per week, working 60 or more hours a week was linked to nearly three times the odds of reporting burnout symptoms.

Why It Matters: Finding ways to reduce educational debt burden on early-career family physicians may potentially reduce burnout symptoms.

Permanent link: Relationships of Educational Debt With Hours Worked and Burnout Symptoms Among Early-Career Family Physicians

Dean A. Seehusen, MD, MPH, et al

Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, Georgia

Pre-Embargo Link (temporary)

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High educational debt and long work hours are associated with burnout symptoms in early-career family physicians

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