AMA Survey Finds Burnout and Administrative Burdens Now Driving Doctors From Practice

Overview

• AMA researchers, in a study published Thursday in The Permanente Journal, surveyed 971 residency-trained physicians who are now clinically inactive.
• Compared with 2008 data, the top reasons for leaving have shifted to burnout, chronic workplace stress, administrative burden, and unrealistic patient expectations.
• Eleven percent of respondents completed residency but never entered clinical practice, which signals losses before doctors even start seeing patients.
• The study defined clinically inactive physicians as those who stopped practicing, work fewer than 20 hours a week, or never entered practice after residency.
• Women left earlier and more often cited caregiving, stress, and health concerns, with a median career length of 9 years for women versus 12 for men, prompting calls for childcare access, flexible schedules, and equitable treatment.