Faculty approaches to combating professional burnout

The peculiar stresses of the dental educator make him or her a prime candidate for burnout and at the same time offer rather special protection against this phenomenon. The dental teacher, especially the clinical teacher, is required to spend virtually all of his time in intimate contact with students, whom he instructs, and with patients in the clinic, for whom he has responsibility. In addition, this same dental educator will probably have some kind of private practice. He will also be required, if he expects to advance in academic rank, to do research, to be cognizant of the latest developments in his field, to publish, to give presentations to his peers and to the community. This adds up to a lot that is expected of one person. Many people have expectations of him, many people crowd in on him with their demands. The situation sounds ideal for burnout. Yet, I believe that if the dental educator does what is expected, if he laces this diet of teaching and patient contact with research and library work, if he sets aside time (you may ask where he is to find it) for contemplation, for good works in the community, for hobbies, for reading, for cultural activities, then in fact the chance of burnout seems lower. And finally, if the dental educator pursues the possibilities that exist for leaves, for time away, for refreshment of his career by new contacts, new ideas, new ways of doing things, and new commitments, he will push away and hold at bay the dangers of burnout.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				K. J. Saleh, J. C. Quick, M. Conaway, W. E. Sime, W. Martin, S. Hurwitz, and T. A. Einhorn The Prevalence and Severity of Burnout Among Academic Orthopaedic Departmental Leaders J. Bone Joint Surg. Am., April 1, 2007; 89(4): 896 - 903. [Full Text] [PDF]