Participants include 87 current residents in Iraq reporting a specialty. 16 (15.6%) specialized in neurology, including 1 in psychiatry. 42 (41.2%) were classified as internal medicine (IM) and 29 (28.4%) as ‘other’. The specialties differed in sex-distribution, children, and length of residency but were statistically similar in age, marital status, patients/day, work-hours/week, and overnight shifts. A trend emerged in the ANOVA, F (2,62) = 2.57, p = 0.08, whereby neurology residents reported higher burnout on the ‘using your own definition’ item, t (62) = 2.26, p = 0.08. Group differences on other Mini Z Burnout items were not significant.

The results suggest that neurology residents in Iraq may experience higher rates of burnout than residents in other specialties. This is consistent with prior research in western societies and implies the factors involved in burnout amongst neurologists may transcend western societal frameworks. Future directions and policy implications are discussed.