Material
Survey
Examining Physician, Resident and Student Wellbeing and Impact of the Current Healthcare Landscape
The Physicians Foundation’s 2024 Survey of America’s Current and Future Physicians focuses on the state of physician, resident and medical student wellbeing as well as physician practice environments—and the solutions needed to improve both.
2024
Key Findings
The Physicians Foundation’s 2024 Survey of America’s Current and Future Physicians serves as a critical compass in understanding, addressing and supporting physicians, residents and medical students across the United States. While challenges to physician wellbeing are daunting, the solutions stemming from this report provide hope. We urge discussion, collaboration and engagement to advance these solutions, which are crucial to the wellbeing of physicians.
Highlights of the key findings identified this year include:
The overall state of wellbeing for current physicians remains low.
- Six in 10 physicians and residents, and seven in 10 medical students reported often experiencing burnout
- More than half of physicians know of a physician who has ever considered, attempted or died by suicide
With private equity and healthcare consolidation exacerbating the issue.
- Seven in 10 physicians and medical students, and at least six in 10 residents agree that consolidation is having a negative impact on patient access to high-quality, cost-efficient care
- According to physicians, negative impacts of mergers/acquisitions include job satisfaction (50%), quality of patient care (36%), independent medical judgment (35%) and patient healthcare costs (30%)
Current and future physicians need solutions that prioritize physician wellbeing and perspectives.
Safeguards for consolidation identified by physicians, residents and medical students include preserving physician autonomy (90%), maintaining patient standards (87%), increasing transparency and disclosure (86%) and assessing long-term impact (84%)
Additionally, 79% of physicians and 87% of residents found the reduction of administrative burdens to be helpful
Furthermore, 71% of residents and 59% of students found change or removal of medical licensure questions that stigmatize accessing behavioral health care to be helpful
Read more through the full report here.
