A recent survey found 40.3% of physicians are "likely" or "definitely" going to reduce clinical work hours in the next 12 months.
The survey, published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, connected with 1,344 physicians between Dec. 9, 2021, and Jan. 24, 2022. It found that more than 40% of physicians indicated they planned to reduce their clinical work hours, nearly double of the number in 2014 (19.8%).
Researchers also found that 25.6% physicians said they would "likely" or "definitely" leave their current practice in the next 24 months.
"There has not been a substantive change in the portion of physicians intending to leave their current position over the last 10 years, but a profound increase in the proportion intending to stay in their current position and reduce clinical work hours," lead author Tait Shanafelt, MD, chief wellness officer of Stanford Medicine, told the American Medical Association.
Burnout and high emotional exhaustion or depersonalization were significant factors in the choice to reduce hours, the survey found.