Supervisor burnout isn’t a resilience problem, it’s a structural one.
Burnout among GP supervisors is nothing new, but it risks shaping trainees’ views of the profession, according to a study published in the Australian Journal of General Practice (AJGP).
Supervisors experiencing poor wellbeing can unintentionally influence trainees to adopt similar attitudes that become integral to their professional identity, perpetuating a wellbeing crisis before their careers have properly begun, researchers wrote.
Because educator wellbeing is tied to higher education quality, the flow-on effects extend beyond the supervisor-registrar relationship to the stability of the broader GP training workforce.
The concern is far from theoretical. A 2025 survey of 371 GP Supervisors Australia members found 57% of respondents reported high levels of disengagement and 64% had high levels of exhaustion – despite both figures being significantly lower than in 2022.
But how can this change if the GP supervisor workforce generally relies on goodwill?
The study, published in the RACGP-owned journal AJGP and conducted by RACGP researchers, explored what contributes to and protects against supervisor burnout.
It identified a novel theme, the “burden of supervision”, distinct from the workload and personal stressors already known to affect doctors.
It’s specific to the emotional toll of the teaching relationship itself.
Burden of supervision, as participants primarily defined it, stemmed from interactions with disengaged trainees who fell short of expectations or those requiring intensive support, alongside the broader educational and administrative load.
These experiences could also compound over time, researchers found.
One supervisor described how a registrar’s lack of effort could “bring you down”, with the impact of each subsequent difficult trainee compounding, eventually prompting some supervisors to generalise their frustration across all registrars.
Another aspect of this supervisory burden was reportedly a sense of loss at “nursing and raising a really great registrar” only for them to leave, one supervisor said.
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Dr Shaun Prentice, an RACGP research officer and study co-author, said supervising registrars adds cognitive and emotional load in addition to clinical work, making the role potentially rewarding but equally taxing.
“This could come from struggling to know how to support a registrar’s learning or emotional needs, [or] hoping a registrar will take on the duty of caring for your community after you have retired, only to find they choose to practise elsewhere,” he said.
In 2022, researchers interviewed 14 supervisors and held three focus groups with medical educators, supervisor liaison officers, and practice manager liaison officers from GPEx and GPTQ in South Australia and Queensland to capture perspectives from those working alongside supervisors day-to-day.
Over 63% of participants were female, and half were urban-based supervisors with three to five years’ experience. Most also supervised medical trainees alongside general practice registrars.
What’s driving burnout?
A thematic analysis of responses identified six dominant categories contributing to supervisor burnout: personal factors, skills and abilities, healthcare role, practice and learning environment, the regulatory payer environment, and broader medical culture.
Supervisors’ personal psychosocial context featured heavily, including traits such as perfectionism and low tolerance for uncertainty, alongside caring responsibilities and financial stress from lost income while supervising.
Having a supportive family network was seen as an integral buffer against these pressures.
Participants said junior supervisors balancing family responsibilities faced disproportionate financial strain, with one describing supervision as insufficient to cover practice costs despite the time invested.
“Junior supervisors are far more in need of the financial input because they’re usually supporting a family… to take an hour out a week, and then to take regular time off, and decrease the amount of patients you’re seeing, can impact on them financially,” one supervisor said.
Medical culture’s discouragement of doctors prioritising their wellbeing, combined with the emphasis on self-sacrifice, can inadvertently stigmatise supervisors – “any suggestion that you’re not coping, even if it’s with the best of intentions, might actually push people away,” one supervisor said.
What helps?
Interventions must be multi-level.
Participants identified formalised training in supervisory skills and a workload proportional to supervisory experience as essential protective measures, alongside seeking psychological support for unhelpful traits such as perfectionism and prioritising self-care.
A supportive practice culture also mattered, participants said – including administrative teams avoiding patient bookings during teaching sessions to reduce supervisors’ clinical workload, opportunities to debrief with others and confidential mental health services.
Having genuine autonomy over scheduling, workload and practice style was deemed a preventive measure against supervisors feeling “trapped” in their role and instilling a sense of hopelessness.
“My favourite idea that emerged was the importance of connection,” Dr Prentice said.
“Building connections with other supervisors offers many potential benefits, not only the sharing of responsibility but the sharing of ideas and enthusiasm,” he said.
Despite the “burden of supervision”, many supervisors still described teaching as a valuable learning opportunity, a rewarding endeavour, or an opportunity to “give back” to the community.
However, researchers noted these positive aspects were often outweighed by the cumulative burden of trainees’ individual needs and characteristics, underscoring the need for a larger GP workforce, more individualised trainee support, and improved remuneration for supervisors.
Looking ahead, Dr Prentice said the RACGP’s now central role in training creates opportunities to pool resources and streamline support for supervisors.
“The RACGP is actively working on supporting registrar wellbeing, including developing resources to support supervisors in managing registrar wellbeing, offering important guidance for supervisors in this space too,” he said.
While the RACGP does offer a (roughly $1800) stipend for supervisor professional development, it is unnecessarily burdensome to access.
