Burnout is a major occupational and educational challenge among medical residents, characterised by emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced professional efficacy. Long working hours, frequent on-call duties, increasing clinical responsibilities, and assessment pressures place residents at considerable risk, with potential consequences for learning, clinical decision-making, patient safety, and workforce retention. Oncology and radiation oncology residents face additional emotional and ethical burdens through repeated exposure to cancer-related suffering, treatment complications, poor prognoses, and death.

Individual-focused interventions alone often have limited and unsustained effects. This letter argues that burnout among oncology residents should not be framed as an individual failure of resilience but as an indicator of the educational environment and a matter of educational accountability. In Iran, structural health-system constraints and the stigma surrounding mental health may further intensify this burden. Confidential burnout monitoring, accessible mental health support, Balint groups, and organisational reforms should be integrated into oncology residency training to safeguard both trainee well-being and the quality of cancer care.