2024 Survey of America’s Current and Future Physicians serves as a crucial guide for understanding, addressing, and supporting physicians, residents, and medical students nationwide.

 

The Physicians Foundation’s 2024 Survey of America’s Current and Future Physicians focuses on the state of physicians, residents, and medical students’ wellbeing, as well as the conditions in physician practice environments—offering essential solutions to improve both.

Key Findings from the Report:

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

Click here to visit the survey homepage and download the full report.

About The Physicians Foundation
The Physicians Foundation is a nonprofit seeking to advance the work of practicing physicians and help them facilitate the delivery of high-quality health care to patients. As the U.S. health care system continues to evolve, The Physicians Foundation is steadfast in strengthening the physician-patient relationship, supporting medical practices’ sustainability and helping physicians navigate the changing health care system. The Physicians Foundation pursues its mission through research, education and innovative grant making that improves physician wellbeing, strengthens physician leadership, addresses drivers of health and lifts physician perspectives. For more information, visit www.physiciansfoundation.org.

 About the Physicians Foundation’s 2024 Survey of America’s Current and Future Physicians
Each year, the Physicians Foundation assesses physician sentiment surrounding the practice environment and patient care, so we can understand where things stand and drive change to enhance physician practice and improve patient health outcomes. In 2024, the survey was conducted online among U.S. physicians, medical residents and clerkship/clinical rotation medical students, who were derived from Medscape’s proprietary database. The survey was fielded from June 17 through July 16, 2024.