Many physicians, nervous about the impact of health system reform and dispirited by trends in medicine, are exploring career options that involve treating fewer patients....
Frustrated by mounting regulation, declining pay, loss of autonomy and uncertainty about the effect of health system reform, doctors are cutting back the number of hours they work and how many patients they see.Between 2008 and 2012, the average number of hours physicians worked fell by 5.9%, from 57 hours a week to 53, and doctors saw 16.6% fewer patients, according to a survey of nearly 14,000 doctors released in September...
Only half of doctors will continue their current practice during the next three years, the survey said. Many plan to cut back on hours, retire, see fewer patients, seek hospital employment, work part time, transition to a concierge model or seek a nonclinical job in health care. Sixty percent would retire today if they could, compared with 45% in 2008.
A quarter of doctors cited long hours and lack of personal time as among the least satisfying elements of their careers. Nine in 10 physicians agreed that most doctors “are unsure where the health system will be or how they will fit into it” during the next five years.
Don't ask me...in half my career, I had to cut my hours to be able to care for the family, and have taken an early retirement to do the same. With more women in medicine nowadays, this item, the fact that women work fewer hours than male doctors due to family obligations, is rarely discussed...
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