Nearly half of family physicians across the U.S. reported feelings of burnout in new research published in JAMA Internal Medicine.
The March 30 study, led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine, analyzed nearly 20,000 family physician survey responses from 2016 to 2020 collected by American Board of Family Medicine surveys. Researchers also used Medicare data to examine whether surveyed physicians switched practices or left medicine altogether in the following year.
“To our knowledge, this is the first national-level study examining the association between physician burnout and turnover,” said Amelia Bond, Ph.D., the study’s co-leader and associate professor of population health sciences at Weill Cornell Medicine, in a statement.
Among surveyed physicians, 43.5% reported feeling burned out—with those under the age of 55 and women more likely to report prolonged work stress. Moreover, researchers observed the following trends for burned-out physicians:
- 4.8% changed practices, compared to 3.4% of physicians not reporting burnout
- 5.4% stopped practicing medicine, compared to 3.7% of physicians not reporting burnout
The study found a correlation between burnout and turnover, though researchers note “additional work will be needed to establish a causal link.”
“These findings highlight the urgent need to address work conditions and professional satisfaction for both the stability of the physician workforce and the well-being of patients,” said Dhruv Khullar, M.D., the study’s co-leader and associate professor of population health sciences at Weill Cornell Medicine, in a statement.