e368 Canadian Family Physician • Le Médecin de famille canadien | Vol 58: JulY • JuIllET 2012 Debates | Web exclusive Rebuttal: Do we overdramatize family physician burnout?

In presenting the negative argument in this debate,1 Dr Trollope-Kumar recognizes the substantial body of evidence that establishes burnout as a serious issue for the medical profession. However, the issue at hand is whether or not we overdramatize burnout. It is here that our positions differ. Dr Trollope-Kumar’s opening lines help to illustrate my concerns about overdramatization. She invites the reader into the scene of a doctor’s lounge. The opening dialogue provides the reader with a comfortable familiarity, gen-tly tempting the reader to accept rather than question what is happening. From the beginning, the audience is deceived, as workload is portrayed as burnout. As the performance begins, Dr Trollope-Kumar fans the dramatic tension of her argument, bringing a ret-inue of confounders to the stage: suicidal thoughts