Psychological Distress and Burnout. The Duo Phenomena Among Medical Officers in a Tertiary Hospital In Malaysia. ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 22(6), August 2021: 1-12. 1 RESEARCH ARTICLE PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS AND BURNOUT. THE DUO PHENOMENA AMONG MEDICAL OFFICERS IN A TERTIARY HOSPITAL IN MALAYSIA Nur Faizah ALI * , Nor Jannah Nasution RADUAN * , Salmi RAZALI * , Zaliha ISMAIL ** * Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Selangor, Malaysia ** Department of Public Health Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Selangor Malaysia Abstract Burnout among doctors is an alarming issue causing impairment of function among doctors, leading to failure of optimum healthcare delivery. This study aims to improve the knowledge gap of burnout and psychological distress among medical officers. It is a cross-sectional study involving 250 medical officers, using universal sampling. Of the total 250 participants, 63 (25.2%) were burnout. The presence of burnout was significantly associated with psychological distress (p<0.001). Burnout is prevalent among medical officers. It is vital to maintain good psychological wellbeing in the form of good stress management and resilience training. ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 22(6), August 2021: 1-12. Keywords: Burnout, Psychological Distress, Doctors, Medical Introduction Burnout among doctors is an alarming issue causing impairment of function among doctors. Almost one-third of physicians are experiencing burnout at any given time. Some studies found that long working hours causing significant stress and work-life imbalance as one reason for such high burnout [1]. Ineffective management of burnout can result in negative consequences not only for the doctors but also for the healthcare clients. An American Psychologist, Herbert Freudenberger, introduced the term “burnout” in the 1970s. Maslach & Jackson suggested the widely known concept of burnout, elaborated by Cordes & Dougherty [2,3]. Burnout is manifested in three dimensions: Emotional Exhaustion (sense of being emotionally overextended and exhausted due to condition of work), Depersonalisation or Cynicism (sense of being detached and impersonal towards any form of contact within one’s work) and low Personal Accomplishment (sense of competence and achievement when one works with people) [4,5]. Medical doctors are faced with ongoing challenges at work, which predispose them to chronic stress, a significant risk to burnout. People who are burnout experience negative consequences either at the personal level or towards other people such as patients, carers and other colleagues [6]. Ridner described and analysed the concept of “distress” [7]. The term “psychological distress” is widely used in researches and clinical practices. However, its construct has yet been well described. It often used interchangeably with emotional distress [8,9]. Massé stated that any experience that causes psychological distress could shift a stable emotional state to other states such as depression, anxiety, and reduced self-appreciation [10]. In the current pandemic situation, COVID-19 has increased the existing challenges to all workforce, particularly the medical doctors, such as increased workload, which is significantly associated with increased burnout, impairing their functions [11,12]. Psychological distress is one of the factors studied that associated with burnout, either before or during a pandemic