Limited Evidence Available for Comparing Burnout Rates Across Internal Medicine Subspecialties
The provided evidence does not contain comparative data ranking the top 10 internal medicine subspecialties by burnout rates, making it impossible to definitively identify which has the lowest burnout.
What the Evidence Actually Shows
Cardiology-Specific Data
The available guidelines focus predominantly on cardiology burnout:
- Cardiology burnout affects 27-43% of cardiologists, with more than one-quarter reporting burnout and almost 50% reporting stress 1
- Within cardiology subspecialties, burnout rates were equivalent - neither type of practice setting nor type of cardiovascular subspecialty had an impact on burnout rates 1
- Only 23.7% of cardiologists reported enjoying their work 1
General Internal Medicine Data
- Overall physician burnout across all specialties is approximately 39.8%, with surgical and emergency specialties experiencing the highest rates 2
- Internal medicine residents experience burnout rates of 67-78% during training, with 76% of residents meeting criteria for burnout in one study 3, 4
Key Drivers of Burnout (Regardless of Subspecialty)
The evidence emphasizes that burnout is driven more by work conditions than by subspecialty choice:
- Lack of control over workload is the primary driver 1, 2
- Time spent in direct clinical practice correlates with higher burnout (more important than subspecialty type) 1
- Hectic work environments and insufficient documentation time contribute significantly 1
- Misalignment between individual and organizational values increases risk 1, 2
Important Caveats
The question cannot be answered with the available evidence because:
- No comparative studies ranking internal medicine subspecialties (endocrinology, gastroenterology, nephrology, rheumatology, infectious disease, pulmonary/critical care, hematology/oncology, geriatrics, hospitalist medicine, allergy/immunology) by burnout rates are provided
- The cardiology data explicitly shows that subspecialty type within cardiology does not predict burnout 1
- Work environment factors matter far more than subspecialty selection for predicting burnout risk 2, 5