Sixty-one percent of physicians reported experiencing burnout in 2021, up from 40 percent in 2018, according to a small survey the Physicians Foundation released Aug. 4. The survey is based on responses from 2,504 U.S. physicians collected between May 26 and June 9. Thirty-six percent of physicians were in primary care. The remaining 64 percent practiced in one of 27 specialties.

The pandemic has had a negative impact on physician mental health, with 57% of survey respondents reporting inappropriate feelings of anger, sadness, or anxiety because of COVID-19.

A total of 46% of physicians said they have isolated or withdrawn from other people in the last year, more than one in three said they felt hopeless or without a purpose, and 57% reported experiencing "inappropriate episodes of anger, tearfulness, or anxiety."

At the same time, physicians at the intersection of burnout and growing older are closing their practices or retiring (see the Next Avenue article, "When Your Trusted Professionals Retire"). The Physicians Foundation, a nonprofit advocacy group, in a report issued in August 2020 says COVID-19 prompted the closing of approximately 16,000 medical practices with another 8,000 expected to close within the year.

"Return to normal" comes up a lot when discussing the COVID-19 pandemic. When used broadly, the expression can refer to when the country will return to normal. Or it can be scaled down to refer to benchmarks used for any industry or profession.

With roughly 156 million Americans fully vaccinated for COVID-19, physicians are seeing signs of relief on the horizon. That relief can't come soon enough.

The Physicians Foundation has developed a tool to help physicians prepare for mental health crises.

The U.S. has experienced a decrease in CVD-related death rates over the past 40 years. However, scientists from the University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas have discovered glaring disparities between areas with high and low mortalities.

In COVID-19’s wake, millions of Americans have been struggling with the basics—feeding their families, paying their rent, or earning enough to make ends meet—at unprecedented levels, especially in communities of color.