Why Have All the Doctors Gone? Insights Into Early Clinical Departure Among Physicians in the United States: A National Survey.

Abstract

Introduction: This national survey of clinically inactive physicians was conducted to identify the factors driving early exit from the clinical physician workforce in the United States, aiming to evaluate characteristics and motivations for leaving early.

Methods: A sample of clinically inactive physicians drawn from American Medical Association Physician Professional Data™ completed a survey between May and June 2024, with questions assessing demographics, education, clinical training, and reasons for leaving clinical practice. In addition to standard descriptive statistics, gender differences were also explored.

Results: Among the 971 respondents included in the analysis, the majority (63.9%) identified as women, the mean age was 45.8 years, and 11.0% had never practiced after graduate medical education. The physicians who left practice reported "hassle factor" (44.7%) and "too stressful" (44.5%) as prime motivators for their departure. Physicians who were women were more likely than men to have exited due to needing to care for family members (7.9% vs 0.6%, P < .001) or children (21.3% vs 4.2%, P < .001). The mean age of physicians who left clinical practice was 48.1 years, 9 years younger than observed in a similar cohort in 2008.

Discussion: This study suggests that physicians who have left practice early have had shorter clinical careers than in the past. Interventions to reduce "hassle factor" and workplace stress may address the motivations for leaving practice.

Conclusion: Understanding early attrition from clinical practice may improve interventions in sustaining the physician workforce. Specifically, further study is needed for women physicians who were fully trained but never entered clinical practice, as these groups will likely contribute an outsized effect on the magnitude of the workforce shortage.