--- title: "Psych News Alert: Doctors Who Wear a Smartwatch May Experience Less Burnout, Greater Resilience" description: Physicians who wore a smartwatch with access to various health metrics such as step count and heart rate experienced reduced burnout and gr... --- 8/19/25 12:00 AM # Doctors Who Wear a Smartwatch May Experience Less Burnout, Greater Resilience ![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [ Psychiatric News Alert ](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) Share: [facebook-f icon ](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://alert.psychnews.org/2025/08/doctors-who-wear-smartwatch-may.html) [linkedin-in icon ](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2025/08/doctors-who-wear-smartwatch-may.html) [Twitter icon ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2025/08/doctors-who-wear-smartwatch-may.html) [pinterest-p icon ](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2025/08/doctors-who-wear-smartwatch-may.html) [envelope icon ](mailto:?body=https://alert.psychnews.org/2025/08/doctors-who-wear-smartwatch-may.html) ![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/doctor_smartwatch_iStock-1477459006.jpg?width=200&height=133&name=doctor_smartwatch_iStock-1477459006.jpg) Physicians who wore a smartwatch with access to various health metrics such as step count and heart rate experienced reduced burnout and greater resilience compared with those who did not, according to a [report](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2837666) published yesterday in J*AMA Network Open*. Liselotte N. Dyrbye, M.D., of the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and colleagues at the Mayo Clinic recruited 184 physicians from their two respective institutions, including 83 residents or fellows. Of these, 92 were randomized to immediately receive a smartwatch that tracked heart rate, physical activity, respiratory rate, stress levels, and sleep patterns; the other 92 physicians received a smartwatch after six months. All participants completed electronic surveys at baseline and every three months for a year to assess burnout, resilience, quality of life, depressive symptoms, stress, and sleepiness. At six months, 35 of 85 physicians (41.2%) wearing the smartwatch reported burnout compared with 46 of 91 (50.5%) in the control arm. Average resilience scores at six months (measured with the 10-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, which goes from 0 to 40) were 31.9 and 29.5 among physicians in the intervention and control arms, respectively. Adjusting for demographics, medical specialty, and work hours, the odds of burnout were reduced by 54% among physicians wearing a smartwatch compared with those who did not. “Based on previously observed associations, the 54.0% reduction in the odds of overall burnout at six months observed in this study could lead to meaningfully lower rates of self-reported medical errors, malpractice litigation, and turnover and lost productivity, along with reduced associated costs to health systems and society,” the researchers wrote. However, no statistically significant difference was seen in quality of life, depressive symptoms, stress, or sleepiness between the trial arms at six months, suggesting that wearing a smartwatch and having access to its collected data does not lead to global improvements in well-being. “Rather, wearing a smartwatch shows promise as an individual strategy to mitigate burnout and improve resilience, and it should be coupled with other individual and organizational efforts to address well-being more broadly,” Dyrbye and colleagues wrote. For related information, see the *Psychiatric News* article “[The Growing Problem of Administrative Burdens](https://www.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.pn.2025.08.8.20).” (Image: Getty Images/iStock/PeopleImages) --- **Don't miss out!** To learn about newly posted articles in *Psychiatric News,* please sign up [here](https://www.appi.org/Products/Textbooks-and-References/Psychiatric-News). **Follow *Psychiatric News* on [X](https://twitter.com/PsychiatricNews), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/psychiatric-news) and [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/psychiatric.news)!** [stress](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/stress), [burnout](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/burnout), [Well-Being](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/well-being), [resilience](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/resilience), [physician](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/physician), [doctor](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/doctor), [smartwatch](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/smartwatch), [Garmin](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/garmin) ## Related posts [![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/counselor_therapist_iStock-1133657937-Jun-24-2025-06-42-44-8621-PM.jpg?height=200&name=counselor_therapist_iStock-1133657937-Jun-24-2025-06-42-44-8621-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2022/09/health-care-workers-more-open-to.html) [depression](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/depression), [stigma](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/stigma), [anxiety](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/anxiety), [burnout](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/burnout), [Psychiatric Services](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/psychiatric-services), [mental health care](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/mental-health-care), [health care workers](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/health-care-workers), [treatment seeking](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/treatment-seeking) ## [Health Care Workers More Open to Therapy After Watching Short Video About Its Benefits](https://alert.psychnews.org/2022/09/health-care-workers-more-open-to.html) ![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 9/14/22 12:00 AM [ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2022/09/health-care-workers-more-open-to.html) [![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/AVvXsEjIknLxKgdm7v42qrqGqHzUwGQ632NSkaRYx0s-peigDftavwqy7VflyEpAqpBtuSJ6ZL5K1Se-NcITRA1mJkvT4Jr6J2qPiijlz17NM4YyyHdY5_FJgYup76FkxupTezQolJcWbKblIDWiZ-4.jpg?height=200&name=AVvXsEjIknLxKgdm7v42qrqGqHzUwGQ632NSkaRYx0s-peigDftavwqy7VflyEpAqpBtuSJ6ZL5K1Se-NcITRA1mJkvT4Jr6J2qPiijlz17NM4YyyHdY5_FJgYup76FkxupTezQolJcWbKblIDWiZ-4.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2022/03/apa-issues-statement-on-ukraine-offers.html) [schizophrenia](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/schizophrenia), [APA](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/apa), [Saul Levin](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/saul-levin), [diabetes](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/diabetes), [trauma](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/trauma), [hypertension](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/hypertension), [refugees](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/refugees), [safety](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/safety), [crisis](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/crisis) ## [APA Issues Statement on Ukraine, Offers Tips for Working With Patients Affected by War](https://alert.psychnews.org/2022/03/apa-issues-statement-on-ukraine-offers.html) ![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 3/3/22 12:00 AM [ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2022/03/apa-issues-statement-on-ukraine-offers.html) [![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/students_teacher_iStock-911030824-Jun-24-2025-04-14-44-5761-PM.jpg?height=200&name=students_teacher_iStock-911030824-Jun-24-2025-04-14-44-5761-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2019/04/teachers-mental-health-linked-to.html) [mental health](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/mental-health), [absenteeism](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/absenteeism), [Well-Being](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/well-being), [students](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/students), [Journal of Affective Disorders](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/journal-of-affective-disorders), [presenteeism](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/presenteeism), [relationships](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/relationships), [Sarah Harding](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/sarah-harding), [teachers](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/teachers) ## [Teachers’ Mental Health Linked to Students’ Well-Being, Study Shows](https://alert.psychnews.org/2019/04/teachers-mental-health-linked-to.html) ![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 4/5/19 12:00 AM Teachers’ mental health and well-being can affect the mental health and well-being of their... [ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2019/04/teachers-mental-health-linked-to.html) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Psychiatric News Alert", "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert" }, "dateModified" : "2025-10-08T20:01:08.261Z", "datePublished" : "2025-08-19T04:00:00.000Z", "headline" : "Psych News Alert: Doctors Who Wear a Smartwatch May Experience Less Burnout, Greater Resilience", "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/2025/08/doctors-who-wear-smartwatch-may.html", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/PN-Blue-Box.jpg" } } } ```