BENDIt-EU: Burnout education, normatives and digital tools for European Universities

In the context of the global extension of burnout in healthcare, this condition was introduced in the 11th revised edition of the International Classification of Diseases. Despite this kind of legitimization, it is clear that concrete actions are needed, in order to address this phenomenon in a timely, extensive and effective manner. In this sense, the BENDiT-EU strategic partnership considers that burnout prevention, in order to be efficient, needs to start as early as possible, during university studies. The process involves the extensive acquisition of skills and the use of tools designed to recognize burnout symptoms and monitor their evolution. Burnout has to be addressed at multiple levels. At the organizational level, universities need policies that could help in promoting wellbeing and quality of life. On the collective level, professors, tutors and counselling staff in universities should be responsible for monitoring the wellbeing of medical and allied-health students, by offering practical solutions to work overload. At the individual level, students need to be able to recognize the symptoms of burnout and take advantage of the available support materials and instruments provided by their universities.