Doctors Feel Pressured on Money, Report Says.

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Author: Mangan, Katherine S.

A growing number of academic physicians are stressed out and depressed because they are being pressured to treat more patients and generate more money, and they have less time for teaching and research, a report published this month concludes.

The report, which appears in the January issue of the journal Academic Medicine, found that 20 percent of the professors surveyed suffered symptoms that were consistent with clinical depression, 77 percent said they did not get enough sleep, and 29 percent said they emotionally withdrew from family members and friends up to several times a month.

"For many faculty, the lure of academia seems to have been the relatively stable mix of patient care, research, and teaching," said the report's lead author, Barbara A. Schindler, vice dean for educational and academic affairs and a professor of psychiatry at Drexel University's College of Medicine.

"Yet in recent years, patient-care responsibilities have crowded out time for teaching and research."

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By Katherine S. Mangan