The Physician Exodus: Why Doctors Are Leaving Clinical Medicine — and What Health Systems Must Do About It
America's healthcare system is facing a quiet but accelerating crisis. Physicians — the backbone of patient care — are leaving clinical medicine at an alarming rate, driven by burnout, administrative overload, and a growing sense that the system no longer supports the practice of medicine they trained for. For health systems, the consequences are becoming impossible to ignore.
The Numbers Tell a Stark Story
The data on physician attrition is sobering. In 2025, Medscape's Physician Burnout and Depression Report revealed that 62% of physicians reported burnout, with too much bureaucratic work and electronic health records consistently ranking as the top two contributors, and nearly one in four physicians said they are planning to leave clinical medicine within the next few years.
Oncology offers a particularly vivid example of what's happening across specialties. A study found that 21% of oncologists who were practicing in 2015 had left clinical care entirely by 2022. That's one in five specialists — gone from patient-facing roles in just seven years. Meanwhile, with over two million new cancer diagnoses projected in 2025, the overall density of oncologists relative to the aging U.S. population is actually decreasing — dropping from 15.9 oncologists per 100,000 people aged 55 and older in 2014 to 14.9 in 2024.
An ASCO survey found that 59% of oncologists reported symptoms of burnout, and one in five were considering reducing clinical hours within the following year. More recently, survey results presented at the 2026 ASCO Annual Meeting found that more than a quarter of oncologist respondents said they regret choosing oncology, and nearly half said they have considered leaving practice altogether.
What's Driving Physicians Out?
Burnout is not simply about long hours or emotionally difficult work. It is a systemic problem rooted in how medicine is now practiced.
Physicians now spend nearly half their workday on EHR documentation and administrative tasks, according to multiple time-motion studies. Prior authorization is a particular flashpoint: the AMA's 2024 National Physician Survey found that 94% of physicians reported that prior authorization delays necessary care, 80% said it leads patients to abandon treatment, and 90% believe it increases overall health care costs.
The burden falls unevenly. The specialties with the highest burnout rates in 2025 include emergency medicine (49.8%), urological surgery (49.5%), hematology/oncology (49.3%), OB/GYN (45.7%), radiology (45.2%), and family medicine (45%). These are also among the most critically understaffed specialties in the country.
The toll on retention is direct and measurable. Among physicians who reported burnout, 76% said they were likely or would definitely leave their current practice within the next two years, compared with only 24% of those without burnout. And MGMA polling found that in 2022, 40% of medical groups reported a physician retiring early or leaving due to burnout — and while that figure eased to 27% in 2024, it remains far from resolved.
The Geography Problem Makes It Worse
Physician attrition is not distributed evenly — it disproportionately devastates the communities with the fewest alternatives. The 2025 ASCO workforce report found that 38 states had fewer oncologists per capita in 2024 than they did in 2014, and only 4% of oncologists work in counties with high cancer mortality rates. Approximately 11% of adults age 55 and older live in counties with no oncologists at all, and another 68% live in counties where at least 25% of oncologists are nearing retirement age.
Rural and underserved communities — already stretched thin — are absorbing the greatest impact of the physician shortage, even as their patient populations age and their cancer burden grows.
The Risk to Health Systems Is Real
For health system administrators, the departure of experienced physicians creates a cascade of consequences: lost revenue, gaps in coverage, increased reliance on locums at premium cost, and the reputational and quality-of-care risks that follow understaffing. Burnout is strongly associated with reduced work effort and intent to leave the profession — and physicians leaving the workforce in record numbers further increases the stress on those who remain, which in turn worsens patient care and threatens the viability of health care organizations.
The problem is compounding. Every physician who leaves places a heavier load on those who stay, accelerating the next wave of departures.
What Health Systems Can Do
Health systems cannot hire their way out of this crisis without a strategic partner who understands the physician workforce deeply. Finding qualified physicians — especially specialists in high-burnout, high-demand fields — requires more than posting a job listing. It requires relationships, expertise, and an understanding of what today's physicians are actually looking for in their next role.
At Specialized Physicians, we work exclusively at this intersection. Our consulting and staffing services are built for health systems navigating physician shortages and workforce transitions. We help identify, place, and retain the specialized physicians your patient population needs — including those who have stepped back from traditional clinical roles and may be ready to return in the right environment.
If your organization is feeling the pressure of physician attrition, we'd welcome the conversation. Explore our client services to learn how we can help you build a more resilient, sustainable physician workforce.
Sources: ASCO 2025 State of the Hematology and Medical Oncologist Workforce in America; JCO Oncology Practice; Medscape Physician Burnout and Depression Report; AMA 2025 National Physician Comparison Report; MGMA Stat; The Permanente Journal