Resident Burnout: Working Hours or Working Conditions?

In this issue of the Journal, several important studies document the existence of a perpetual problem in graduate medical education—resident burnout—and emphasize the importance of developing countermeasures.1–,3 Of note, another group of notable articles exploring the consequences of the recent regulation of resident duty hours, with many showing no discernible improvement of resident burnout despite the mandated shorter work week.4–,9 In this latter group of studies, residents reported being a bit more rested than before implementation of the shorter week and that their time away from work was more enjoyable. However, task pressure at the hospital remained severe, the pace continued to be frenetic, the work load remained excessive, and frustration among residents continued to run high. Frustrations were aggravated by the widespread perception that duty hour regulations might be harmful for patient safety and resident education. What may medical educators learn from these observations about the ongoing problem of burnout?