Nearly one-third of young physicians say they would not choose a career in medicine again, according to Medscape's 2022 Young Physician Compensation Report.
The report is based on survey responses from 13,064 physicians in 29 specialties polled between Oct. 5, 2021 and Jan. 19, 2022.
Four findings:
1. Sixty-eight percent of physicians under age 40 said they would choose a career in medicine again if they could redo their careers, down from 76 percent a year prior. Thirty-two percent said they would not choose medicine again.
2. Only 54 percent of young physicians said they felt fairly compensated. Average annual pay for physicians ages 28 to 34 was $260,000. This jumped to $311,000 for physicians ages 35 to 39.
3. When asked to identify the most challenging part of their job, young physicians cited dealing with difficult patients (22 percent), long work hours (19 percent) and having so many rules and regulations (18 percent) as their top three challenges.
4. Gratitude from patients and patient relationships was the most rewarding part of the job for 27 percent of respondents.
View the full report here.