What Burnout in Healthcare Actually Looks Like: A Conversation with Dr. Tracy Jackson

Just a few days after our MedTreks Costa Rica CME retreat, we sat down with Dr. Tracy Jackson to talk about burnout in healthcare, what she’s observed over the years, and what actually helps.

Tracy is triple board-certified in anesthesiology, pain medicine, and addiction medicine, and brings a thoughtful, experience-driven perspective to this topic.

“No one ever wondered if the helpers needed help.”

When we asked Tracy what first drew her to working with healthcare professionals, her answer was simple: She didn’t plan it… it was what she experienced. From early on in her training, she noticed patterns that felt off. Long hours. Missed milestones. People quietly exhausted but continuing anyway.

“I heard things like, ‘I’m married to my job,’ or ‘It’s too late to change now.’”

Over time, she saw how normalized that mindset had become. Burnout wasn’t something people talked about openly. And if they did, it was often framed as a personal failure.

“If someone was struggling, it was understood in whispers… they couldn’t hack it.”

That didn’t sit right with her.

Burnout isn’t always obvious

When people think of burnout, they often picture something extreme. But more often, it looks quieter.

“Burnout happens along a spectrum. It’s often a slow depletion of all we once held dear.”

Tracy shared her own experience during surgical training, working extreme hours to the point of exhaustion. But she emphasized that burnout doesn’t have to look like that to be real. Today, it often shows up differently. More compressed. More subtle. But still present. People are being asked to do more, in less time, with increasing administrative pressure and expectations.

It’s not just about time management

One of the biggest misconceptions? That burnout is something you fix with better habits or better scheduling.

“The biggest misunderstanding is that it’s purely a time management issue.”

System-level factors play a huge role. But there’s also a more personal layer that often goes unexamined. How someone relates to their work.What they value. What they feel they should be doing versus what actually feels aligned.

Why it’s so hard to step away

For many healthcare professionals, stepping away (even briefly) can feel almost impossible a lot of times. Tracy explained that change doesn’t happen just because someone knows they need rest. It happens when they understand why they want something different.

“People don’t change in a sustainable way without understanding their ‘why.’”

When someone reconnects with what they actually value and how they want to live. Or with what matters to them, it becomes easier to make different decisions. Not because of fear, but out of clarity.

What stepping away can (and can’t) do

Time away can be powerful! But not always in the way people would expect.

“Stepping away doesn’t always lead to lasting change… but it can create cognitive flexibility.”

Being in a new environment, meeting different people, and seeing alternative ways of living can open something. A small shift. Or even a question like: What if things could be different? That shift matters.

Rethinking rest

Another idea Tracy challenges is how we think about rest.

“Rest isn’t something you force. It’s something you allow.”

If your body still feels unsafe or if your life is misaligned with your values… rest won’t come easily. You can temporarily “force” it. But it won’t stick. Instead, she encourages people to look at where their time, energy, and values are out of alignment. Even small adjustments there can change how the body responds.

A simple place to start

For someone who can’t step away right now, Tracy suggests starting small.

“Take the time to understand and name your two core values.”

That clarity can shift everything. It becomes easier to decide:

• what to say yes to
• what to step away from
• how to move forward

Not based on what others expect, but on what actually matters to you!

One message for burned-out clinicians

We ended by asking Tracy what she would say to someone who feels completely burned out. Her answer:

“You are not broken. You are resilient. You are wired for change.”

How Does This Connect to MedTreks?

This is part of why we’ve been expanding our retreat lineup. We don’t think of them as a quick fix for burnout in healthcare! We build them out as a space to step outside the day-to-day environment, recharge, reconnect with what matters and come out feeling like new.

Click here to view our retreat offerings!