OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between a teaching role and stress in doctors and dentists who teach. METHODS: Medline, PubMed, BIDS database for social sciences literature, and the ERIC database for educational literature were searched using the key words 'stress' or 'burnout' with the terms doctor, physician, dentist, teacher, lecturer, academic staff, and university staff. Other books and journals known to the authors were also used. RESULTS: Many studies have shown high levels of stress in doctors, dentists, teachers, and lecturers. A large number of factors are implicated, including low autonomy, work overload, and lack of congruence between power and responsibility. Doctors and dentists who take on a teaching role in addition to their clinical role may increase their levels of stress, but there is also evidence that this dual role may reduce job-related stress. CONCLUSIONS: Working as a doctor or dentist may entail higher levels of stress than are experienced by the general population. In some situations adding in the role of teacher reduces this stress, but more research is needed to explain this finding.