Medical doctors nonetheless endure excessive fee of burnout: CMA

OTTAWA – New information from the Canadian Medical Affiliation (CMA) present that Canadian physicians are nonetheless fighting excessive charges of burnout and melancholy 5 years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, survey outcomes additionally present that physicians are more and more more likely to search wellness assist and embrace different options.

The CMA is releasing preliminary information from its 2025 Nationwide Doctor Well being Survey (NPHS). Whereas sure wellness indicators have improved because the final survey (2021), most wellness indicators – together with extreme workloads, exhaustion, ethical misery and burnout – haven’t returned to pre-pandemic (2017) ranges, which had been already poor.

A number of the challenges highlighted within the 2025 survey embrace:

• 46% of physicians report excessive ranges of burnout, down from 2021 (53%) however nonetheless considerably above 2017 ranges (30%);
• 74% of physicians report having skilled bullying, harassment, microaggressions, and/or discrimination, a slight however significant decline from 78% in 2021;
• 64% of physicians reported spending a big period of time on digital medical data (EMRs) exterior common hours. In complete, physicians are working 10.4 hours per week on administrative duties.

Encouragingly, 65% of physicians accessed a minimum of one wellness assist, up considerably from 54% in 2021. The survey additionally exhibits that 60% report being happy with work-life integration, a transparent enchancment from 49% in 2021.

“As I meet with CMA members throughout the nation, they’re telling me that they nonetheless really feel the heavy burden of an overstretched healthcare system,” mentioned Dr. Margot Burnell (pictured), CMA president. “It’s encouraging that physicians are prepared to hunt assist, however extra work is required to make sure they will thrive in a well being system that gives care to sufferers whereas supporting suppliers.”

The information additionally underscores options to enhance doctor wellness. For instance, 59% of respondents who used it say synthetic intelligence decreased their time spent on administrative duties, which is a key contributor to burnout. Different methods to enhance retention and wellness embrace supporting team-based care and rising the variety of physicians providing main care.

The NPHS consists of responses from roughly 3,300 practising physicians, medical residents and fellows surveyed from March 14 to April 15, 2025.