In this episode, Associate Professor in the Doctoral Program of Physical Therapy at Rutgers, Dr. Ellen Anderson, talks to Dr. Stephanie Weyrauch about burnout in physical therapy. Today, Ellen talks about her dissertation on burnout, the distinction between normal stress and burnout, and how these markers of burnout fit into the anecdotal accounts of burnout seen in blogs and magazines. Why is data so limited on burnout in physical therapy? Which settings within physical therapy experience the highest rate of burnout? Hear about the many factors impacting the number of therapists affected by burnout, how Covid-19 has affected recent graduates and students, and the causes of burnout, all on today’s episode of The Healthy, Wealthy & Smart Podcast.   Key Takeaways “When people work with people who are in crisis, there are a lot of demands placed on them - very different than in other kinds of work, for example.” There are 3 categories in burnout: Emotional exhaustion. Depersonalisation. Personal Accomplishment. “When we think about just being stressed out, it’s hard to know what that means because everyone’s stressors are different.” “If a physical therapist has high perceived stress, that’s correlated with emotional exhaustion, which is a part of burnout, but not the full definition of burnout.” Researchers have suggested that there’s 2 ways to look at burnout: The Personal Approach. Make the person resilient, and they will be able to handle any kind of environment. The Work Environment. Make a nurturing environment that’s conducive to good work, and supporting people who are in crisis, then you’re supporting the workers and you’ll have less burnout. “Younger physicians have higher rates of burnout than do older practitioners.” “When people in healthcare feel as though they don’t have control of the situation, or they cannot contribute to good patient care, effectiveness, and efficiencies, that the burnout rates are higher.” “There needs to be an understanding on how stressful and difficult it is to work with people who are at risk and people who are in crisis.” “We need to be thinking about ways in which physical therapists can have some participation in systems that supports everyone in that work environment.” “One of the things that’s very detrimental when people share thoughts and ideas, is that the first response they get is ‘we cant’ or ‘no’ without any kind of real honest investigation into the suggestion or recommendation.” “Breathing practices and meditation are two strategies which help people be able to manage their stress effectively. The idea is that you practice those things so that when you need it, you can use it.”   More about Stephanie Weyrauch Dr. Stephanie Weyrauch is employed as a physical therapist at Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine Centers in Orange, Connecticut. She received her Doctorate in Physical Therapy and Master of Science in Clinical Investigation from Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Weyrauch has served as a consultant for a multi-billion dollar company to develop a workplace injury prevention program, which resulted in improved health outcomes, OSHA recordables, and decreased healthcare costs for the company’s workforce. She has served on multiple national task forces for the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) and actively lobbies for healthcare policy issues at the local, state, and national levels of government. Currently, she serves as Vice President of the American Physical Therapy Association Connecticut Chapter and is a member of the American Congress for Rehabilitation Medicine. Dr. Weyrauch is also the co-host for The Healthcare Education Transformation Podcast, which focuses on innovations in healthcare education and delivery. Dr. Weyrauch has performed scientific research through grants from the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation at world-renowned institutions including Stanford University and Washington University in St. Louis