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Burnout before and during COVID: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of 48 698 trainees.

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Title: Burnout before and during COVID: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of 48 698 trainees.
Authors: Prentice, Shaun1,2 (AUTHOR) shaun.prentice@racgp.org.au, Dorstyn, Diana S.1 (AUTHOR), Massy‐Westropp, Nicola3 (AUTHOR), Benson, Jill4,5 (AUTHOR), Elliott, Taryn6 (AUTHOR)
Source: Medical Education. Nov2025, Vol. 59 Issue 11, p1156-1171. 16p.
Subject Terms: *Psychological burnout, *Internship programs, *Medical students, *Masters programs (Higher education), *COVID-19 pandemic, Medical information storage & retrieval systems, Meta-analysis, Descriptive statistics, Hospital medical staff, Systematic reviews, MEDLINE, Medical databases, Data analysis software, Confidence intervals, Psychology information storage & retrieval systems
Abstract: Purpose: Postgraduate medical trainees exhibit elevated burnout levels. COVID‐related workplace stressors created a further mental health challenge, potentially exacerbating this issue. This review compared literature on burnout levels in postgraduate medical trainees published before and after COVID, with consideration of group differences (e.g., specialty and country). Methods: This systematic review and meta‐analysis was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42023404618) and followed the updated PRISMA statement. Embase, Ovid Medline, Ovid PsycInfo and the Cochrane Collaborative were searched until April 2025. These results were supplemented with pearling and citation searching of included articles and previous reviews. Studies that administered the Maslach Burnout Inventory – Human Services Survey (MBI) to postgraduate medical trainees were eligible. Where studies met eligibility criteria but did not provide required data (i.e., sample size, means and standard deviations), authors were contacted to supply these data. Methodological reporting quality (QualSyst tool) and publication bias were assessed (funnel plots, trim‐and‐fill method), and between‐group heterogeneity explored (subgroup analyses, meta‐regression). Differences in burnout levels pre‐ and intra‐COVID (i.e., before and after March 2020, respectively) were quantified using Hedges' g. Results: Of 3 930 unique studies identified, 245 were included, comprising 48 698 trainees. Impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on burnout levels varied: although trainees' emotional exhaustion remained stable, reported levels of depersonalisation (from gw = 0.611 to 0.430, p = 0.045) and personal accomplishment fell (from gw = −0.348 to −0.626, p = 0.009). Specialty and country variations were evident, with emergency medicine trainees trainees reporting worse burnout during COVID, whereas anethesiology, psychiatry and urology trainees felt less burnt out by their work. Conclusions: Wellbeing supports should be prioritized for front‐line specialty trainees, who were vulnerable to work‐related stressors that emerged during COVID. Interventions should focus on fostering a sense of competence and mastery, both of which can enhance personal accomplishment. Through meta‐analysis of 48,698 interns and residents, Prentice et al. report that lowered personal accomplishment during the COVID‐19 pandemic was associated with practice specialty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Medical Education is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Data: Burnout before and during COVID: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of 48 698 trainees.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Prentice%2C+Shaun%22">Prentice, Shaun</searchLink><relatesTo>1,2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> shaun.prentice@racgp.org.au</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Dorstyn%2C+Diana+S%2E%22">Dorstyn, Diana S.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Massy‐Westropp%2C+Nicola%22">Massy‐Westropp, Nicola</searchLink><relatesTo>3</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Benson%2C+Jill%22">Benson, Jill</searchLink><relatesTo>4,5</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Elliott%2C+Taryn%22">Elliott, Taryn</searchLink><relatesTo>6</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Medical+Education%22">Medical Education</searchLink>. Nov2025, Vol. 59 Issue 11, p1156-1171. 16p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Psychological+burnout%22">Psychological burnout</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Internship+programs%22">Internship programs</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Medical+students%22">Medical students</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Masters+programs+%28Higher+education%29%22">Masters programs (Higher education)</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22COVID-19+pandemic%22">COVID-19 pandemic</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Medical+information+storage+%26+retrieval+systems%22">Medical information storage & retrieval systems</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Meta-analysis%22">Meta-analysis</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Descriptive+statistics%22">Descriptive statistics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Hospital+medical+staff%22">Hospital medical staff</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Systematic+reviews%22">Systematic reviews</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22MEDLINE%22">MEDLINE</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Medical+databases%22">Medical databases</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Data+analysis+software%22">Data analysis software</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Confidence+intervals%22">Confidence intervals</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Psychology+information+storage+%26+retrieval+systems%22">Psychology information storage & retrieval systems</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: Purpose: Postgraduate medical trainees exhibit elevated burnout levels. COVID‐related workplace stressors created a further mental health challenge, potentially exacerbating this issue. This review compared literature on burnout levels in postgraduate medical trainees published before and after COVID, with consideration of group differences (e.g., specialty and country). Methods: This systematic review and meta‐analysis was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42023404618) and followed the updated PRISMA statement. Embase, Ovid Medline, Ovid PsycInfo and the Cochrane Collaborative were searched until April 2025. These results were supplemented with pearling and citation searching of included articles and previous reviews. Studies that administered the Maslach Burnout Inventory – Human Services Survey (MBI) to postgraduate medical trainees were eligible. Where studies met eligibility criteria but did not provide required data (i.e., sample size, means and standard deviations), authors were contacted to supply these data. Methodological reporting quality (QualSyst tool) and publication bias were assessed (funnel plots, trim‐and‐fill method), and between‐group heterogeneity explored (subgroup analyses, meta‐regression). Differences in burnout levels pre‐ and intra‐COVID (i.e., before and after March 2020, respectively) were quantified using Hedges' g. Results: Of 3 930 unique studies identified, 245 were included, comprising 48 698 trainees. Impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on burnout levels varied: although trainees' emotional exhaustion remained stable, reported levels of depersonalisation (from gw = 0.611 to 0.430, p = 0.045) and personal accomplishment fell (from gw = −0.348 to −0.626, p = 0.009). Specialty and country variations were evident, with emergency medicine trainees trainees reporting worse burnout during COVID, whereas anethesiology, psychiatry and urology trainees felt less burnt out by their work. Conclusions: Wellbeing supports should be prioritized for front‐line specialty trainees, who were vulnerable to work‐related stressors that emerged during COVID. Interventions should focus on fostering a sense of competence and mastery, both of which can enhance personal accomplishment. Through meta‐analysis of 48,698 interns and residents, Prentice et al. report that lowered personal accomplishment during the COVID‐19 pandemic was associated with practice specialty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Medical Education is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.1111/medu.15760
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 16
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    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Psychological burnout
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Internship programs
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Medical students
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      – SubjectFull: Psychology information storage & retrieval systems
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      – TitleFull: Burnout before and during COVID: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of 48 698 trainees.
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              Text: Nov2025
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