Research Mentor: Kyle Bates Clinical Associate Professor, UMBC Emergency and Disaster Health Systems & Blake Francis, Assistant Professor, UMBC Philosophy
Physician Burnout Through the Emotional State Theory of Happiness
Research Overview
My capstone project examines physician burnout through a qualitative case study of Jillian Horton’s memoir, We Are All Perfectly Fine. In this project, I analyze Horton’s first-person reflections on burnout and compare her lived experience to the existing body of burnout literature in psychology and public health. I also interpret her experiences through the lens of Daniel M. Haybron’s Emotional State Theory of Happiness to explore how well this philosophical framework captures the subjective experience of burnout. By placing these perspectives in dialogue, my project evaluates the strengths and limitations of both empirical and philosophical approaches, ultimately investigating whether Haybron’s theory can offer unique insight into the nature of physician burnout.