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A reflection on burnout, boundaries, and self-care for woman doctors.
Why woman doctors are burnt out (And how healthy boundaries can help)
Though this post is a week later than the actual Women’s day, I would like to publish it because its very important because we mostly don’t speak about – self care of women.
Picture – A tired woman doctor walks into the clinic.
She smiles at patients, listens carefully, examines eyes, writes prescriptions, reassures families.
What most people don’t see is what she is carrying silently — exhaustion, emotional fatigue, and the quiet pressure to always keep going. Not everyone but, yes! most of us. Numbers on it coming up ahead.
Women – who have been taught to care deeply, help endlessly, and rarely put themselves first.
This Women’s Day, instead of only celebrating woman doctors for their resilience, perhaps it is time we also ask an uncomfortable question:
Why are so many woman doctors burnt out?
Physician burnout is now widely recognized across healthcare systems. Studies suggest that nearly 43–48% of physicians report symptoms of burnout, such as emotional exhaustion and loss of enthusiasm for work.
Interestingly, many studies show that woman doctors experience burnout at higher rates than their male counterparts. Some surveys suggest that around 47% of woman doctors report burnout compared to about 39% of men.
This does not mean women are less capable. In fact, several studies show that women doctors often spend more time communicating with patients and sometimes even achieve slightly better patient outcomes.
So why does burnout affect many women doctors more deeply?
Some reasons lie within healthcare systems and social expectations. But some patterns also exist within ourselves — patterns many of us learned long before we even entered medicine.
Sometimes it’s important that we look into ourselves before we completely put the onus on the system as the culprit. Yes! the system might be the culprit BUT definitely not a thing that is under our control. What is under our control is our own way of looking at things and how we respond to the situations.
So,
This Women’s Day, perhaps one meaningful step forward is this:
Taking better care of ourselves by setting healthier work boundaries.
Because caring for others should never require destroying ourselves.
1. Many Women Doctors Don’t Ask for What They Want
One pattern I have quietly observed over the years is how differently people negotiate for themselves.
During job discussions, I have seen male colleagues confidently negotiate salaries and working conditions. They would clearly ask for what they believed they deserved.
Many women doctors, including myself at times, tend to do something different. We sometimes downplay our abilities or hesitate to negotiate firmly. We may feel grateful just to receive the opportunity.
Looking back, I realize that I too have occasionally asked for less than what I might have deserved.
This isn’t about competition between men and women. It simply reflects a pattern many women have been conditioned into — being modest about our achievements and hesitant to advocate strongly for ourselves.
But in professional spaces, self-advocacy matters.
If we don’t speak about our worth, systems rarely adjust automatically.
2. Difficulty Setting Healthy Work Boundaries
Doctors are trained to be responsible and dependable. But sometimes this slowly turns into a belief that saying no is wrong.
At one of my previous workplaces, there was a senior doctor who would often ask multiple people in the team to perform pre-operative workups repeatedly and simultaneously — even during extremely busy outpatient hours.
In principle, teamwork is valuable. But when several doctors had already completed the same tasks and patients were waiting in a crowded OPD, repeating the work again sometimes felt unnecessary.
One day during a particularly busy Government hospital OPD where I worked as a consultant, I was asked by a senior consultant to come and present cases that I had already evaluated earlier.
I gently explained that I would have to see patients in OPD as they are waiting since a long time, while a junior resident who had also seen the cases could present them.
Yes, you might feel like – “how dare she refuse ? How isn’t she guilty of refusing when a senior asked?” Honestly, that was my first mental reaction to my refusal!
I am a working professional, patients are waiting. Everyone’s time is valuable. And patients are of course in pain. Wasting their time is something not which my conscience would agree to.
Hence, the refusal. You can sense a tone of guilt in these few sentences of mine. But alas, what needs to be done must be done. Hence I refused and continued to see patients.
The reaction from the senior was not very pleasant.
Setting boundaries is rarely comfortable as well, especially in hierarchical environments.
But that day I realized something important: protecting patient care and my own mental clarity required “SAYING NO” to unnecessary repetition of work.
Sometimes maintaining professional boundaries may cost us approval or popularity. But it also protects something very important — our mental peace and professional integrity.
3. Fear of Standing Up Against Unfairness
One reason many doctors hesitate to set boundaries is fear.
Fear of being labeled difficult.
Fear of damaging relationships with seniors.
Fear of facing subtle consequences.
These fears are real.
Medicine often functions within strong hierarchies, and younger doctors may feel vulnerable.
But over time I have learned that silence often allows unhealthy systems to continue.
Standing up does not always require confrontation or aggression. Often it simply means calmly stating our responsibilities, limits, and priorities – BOUNDARIES!
Courage in medicine does not always look dramatic. Sometimes it simply looks like quiet and clear boundary.
4. The Trap of People-Pleasing
Many of us grow up believing that being helpful and agreeable makes us good people.
In professional life, this can slowly turn into people-pleasing.
For example, sometimes colleagues may shift their workload onto someone else. The person receiving the extra work may not actually want to do it, but still agrees in the hope that being “nice” will lead to future support or goodwill.
Unfortunately, this mindset can sometimes attract the wrong behaviour.
I am not saying “don’t help.” There is a subtle difference between helping and being “a dumping bag!”
People who exploit others often recognize those who struggle to “say no”.
Kindness is a beautiful trait. Medicine needs compassionate people.
But kindness without boundaries can become vulnerability.
True professionalism means respecting both others’ responsibilities and our own.
5. Glorifying Overwork
Medicine has long glorified exhaustion.
Long hours, skipped meals, and working beyond scheduled times are sometimes seen as signs of dedication.
Young doctors, especially women, may feel pressure to agree to extended work hours in order to appear committed or respectful.
But the truth is simple: burnout does not make anyone a better doctor.
When doctors are constantly exhausted, their concentration, emotional energy, and decision-making ability suffer.
Sustainable efficiency in medicine comes from balance.
Doctors who care for their own physical and emotional well-being are better able to care for their patients over the long term.
Setting boundaries around working hours, rest, and responsibilities is not laziness — it is professional sustainability.
A Tribute to Women Doctors
Despite these challenges, women doctors continue to show remarkable resilience.
They bring empathy and patience to patient care.
They often juggle professional responsibilities with personal and family roles.
They bring communication and compassion that deeply impact healing.
The increasing number of women entering medicine is a powerful strength for healthcare.
But strength should never mean endless endurance.
Even the strongest people deserve support, respect, and space to care for themselves.
This Women’s Day: A Small but Powerful Step
If there is one message I would like to share with fellow women doctors this Women’s Day, it is this:
You do not have to carry everything alone.
For many of us, medicine slowly becomes a place where we forget ourselves.
We stay late because we don’t want to appear uncooperative.
We say yes even when we are exhausted.
We take on extra responsibilities quietly, believing that dedication means endless sacrifice.
And slowly, without even noticing, we begin to feel tired in ways that sleep alone cannot fix.
The truth is — many women doctors are not just physically tired. They are emotionally drained from constantly giving without replenishing themselves.
But caring for yourself is not selfish.
Rest is not weakness.
Boundaries are not disrespect.
And saying no does not make you less committed to your profession.
In fact, protecting your well-being is one of the most responsible things a doctor can do.
Because a doctor who is emotionally healthy, mentally clear, and physically rested will always be able to care for patients better than one who is silently burning out.
So this Women’s Day, perhaps we can give ourselves a different kind of promise.
Not another promise to work harder.
Not another promise to sacrifice more.
But a promise to treat ourselves with the same compassion we offer our patients every day.
A promise to say:
• My time matters
• My health matters
• My peace matters
• My work deserves respect
You do not have to prove your dedication by exhausting yourself.
You do not have to say yes to everything.
You can be a kind doctor and still protect your boundaries.
You can be a compassionate colleague and still value your own well-being.
And when women doctors begin to honour their own limits, something powerful happens — not only do we heal ourselves, we slowly begin to change the culture of medicine itself.
So this Women’s Day, let us celebrate the incredible strength of women in medicine.
But let us also remember this:
Even the strongest healers deserve care.
And sometimes the most courageous thing a doctor can do…
is simply stand up and say,
“My well-being matters too.”
Happy Women’s Day to every woman doctor who continues to heal the world — while learning to heal herself too.
A Question for Fellow Doctors
If you are a doctor reading this, perhaps take a quiet moment to reflect.
Have you ever felt exhausted but still stayed back because leaving on time felt “wrong”?
Have you ever said yes to extra work even when you knew you needed rest?
Have you ever hesitated to set a boundary because you feared how others might react?
Many of us have been there.
Medicine is a profession built on compassion, but sometimes we forget that the person deserving compassion is also the doctor behind the stethoscope.
If any part of this reflection resonated with you, I would truly love to hear your thoughts in the comments! 👇
What is one small boundary you believe doctors should feel comfortable setting at work?
More on women physician burnout
MY OTHER POSTS ON LIFE OF AN OPHTHALMOLOGIST – here
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