ABSTRACT
Broadly speaking, interventions can be grouped into those that focus on the individual and those that focus on the organisation. Both strategies have been shown to produce clinically meaningful reductions in physician burnout. Interventions made at an organisation level include anti-bullying policies, introduction of flexible working hours, promotion of mentoring programmes and the use of leadership programmes. Organisations such as the military and police forces now invest in preparatory training with the aim of readying their employees for experience of stressful situations and impact that these experiences are likely to have on them psychologically. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a mainstay in treating burnout, and several studies have suggested that group, cognitive behavioural–based programmes reduce general practitioner (GP) distress, at least in short term. Mindfulness has been described as a 'a form of mental training that enables one to attend to aspects of experience in a non-judgmental, non-reactive way, which in turn helps cultivate clear thinking, equanimity, compassion, and open-heartedness'.
