Female Surgeon Burnout

A paper published in the September edition of the ANZ Journal of Surgery reports that Australasian female surgeons exhibit higher levels of personal burnout and work related burnout than their male peers. A survey by the authors of “Burnout in Australasian Younger Fellows” (ANZ J Surg 79 (2009) 590-597) found that female gender was more significantly associated with burnout levels than long work hours (>60 hours a week). The authors state that the reason for the gender discrepancy is unclear and that “further enquiry into potentially remediable causes for the increased burnout in these groups is indicated.”