Associations Between Burnout and Mental Health Symptoms Across the Pharmacy Education Environment: A Study of Students, Faculty, and Staff.

OBJECTIVE

To characterize burnout and mental health symptoms among pharmacy students, faculty, and staff and examine the associations between mental health symptoms and burnout within a single educational setting.

METHODS

A repeated cross-sectional survey was conducted at a single college of pharmacy. Students, faculty, and staff were invited to participate at 4 time points. Measures included burnout, depressive symptoms, anxiety, alcohol use, and drug use; descriptive statistics, correlations, and regression analyses were performed.

RESULTS

A total of 565 responses were collected, with a final analytic sample of 452. Burnout levels varied across roles, with advanced students reporting higher burnout than early students, while faculty and staff reported lower levels; burnout was strongly correlated with depressive symptoms (r =.63) and anxiety symptoms (r =.59). In multivariable analyses, depressive symptoms (β =.411) and anxiety symptoms (β =.233) were independently associated with burnout, and the final model explained 44.7% of the variance in burnout (R² =.447); these relationships were consistent across roles.

CONCLUSION

Burnout within this pharmacy education setting is closely associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms across roles. These findings support the need for system-level approaches to well-being that address both environmental demands and mental health needs.