A recent survey of junior doctors in Western Australia uncovers a troubling rise in moderate-to-high burnout levels, with 56 percent of respondents affected—a 4 percent jump from last year. Over half also highlight limited training opportunities in the sector.
Escalating Burnout and Profession Exodus
Dr. Kyle Hoath, president of the Australian Medical Association WA, calls the uptick alarming. “It’s raised from where it was last year, which is alarming to us,” he states. “We know that this is going to be a tough winter, and if we’re facing that with fewer doctors because we’re burning them out in their day-to-day duties, it’s unacceptable.”
Junior doctors increasingly abandon the profession early, driven by overwhelming workloads, burnout risks, and inadequate support. “Probably for the first time ever, we are seeing doctors leave the profession early to pursue other careers because it’s too hard, because of the burden placed on them, because of the risk of burnout, because of the work that they’re exposed to with insufficient support,” Hoath explains.
Major Workplace Concerns
One-third of surveyed doctors fear retaliation for raising issues or reporting misconduct. Forty percent say training applications harm their wellbeing. Key worries also include job security, parental leave support, and flexible or part-time options.
Dr. Natalie Ferrington, vice president of the Australian Medical Association WA and registrar at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, describes a dire situation on the front lines. “The feeling on the ground is definitely aligned to the feelings of the hospital health check, which is that burnout has increased overall,” she notes. “We see it on the ground where departments just don’t have the medical staff, and these are junior doctors that are working overnight trying to review patients. I see it time and time again, patients ending up in intensive care or having poorer outcomes because we just don’t have the staff to actually work in the departments in the hospital.”
More than 1,300 junior doctors participated in the survey, which evaluates morale, workplace culture, burnout, leave access, training availability, and employment rights.
Demand for Expanded Training
Ferrington urges more specialist positions in competitive fields like cardiology and surgery. “Unfortunately, the places to pursue a career in cardiology or surgery or most specialties that you or I might think of as medical specialists—it is very competitive,” she says. “That’s one of the main drivers of people not actually being able to speak up on these key workplace issues.”
Hoath identifies reliable leave access as vital to curb burnout, citing unsafe hours, unpaid overtime, and life pressures like starting families. “Often it’s at the same time people are starting families, or at the very least entering perhaps their first ever job, and to be exposed to such amounts of pressure, such amounts of work with insufficient support or time off or breaks, is what contributes to quite a high rate of burnout,” he says.
Some Positive Shifts
Amid challenges, 92 percent of respondents feel safe at work often or always. Adverse behavior reporting improves following advocacy, with no failing grades recorded for the second time. “It is positive that we have seen no F-grades for only the second time ever,” Hoath says. “So we are seeing that the hospitals do listen to the health check and try to address those issues that we are able to highlight. Every year, after the hospital health check, we visit every hospital, sit down with their executives, we sit down with the government… and we talk about what we might be able to practically do in the next 12 months to improve things.”
