Family physicians who reported burnout were nearly 1.5 times more likely to change their practice or stop practicing medicine altogether than their physician colleagues who did not report burnout, Weill Cornell Medicine researchers found in a study. Physician burnout includes emotional exhaustion, feeling isolated from patients and colleagues, and feeling that the job no longer has meaning.
The findings, published March 30 in JAMA Internal Medicine, also highlight the implications for patients. People who lose their primary care physician are more likely to visit emergency departments, spend more on medical care, and be less satisfied with their care than those who keep their primary care physician.
“To our knowledge, this is the first national study to examine the association between physician burnout and turnover,” said study co-lead Dr. Amelia Bond, associate professor of population health sciences at Weill Cornell Medical College.
To quantify burnout, Dr. Bond and colleagues looked at the American Board of Family Medicine surveys from 2016 to 2020. This survey must be completed by family physicians in order to obtain and maintain board certification. As part of the survey, physicians are asked if they experience burnout or feelings of numbness.
The researchers then determined whether the doctors changed their practice or left the practice altogether in the following year based on billing patterns in anonymized Medicare data.
Of the approximately 20,000 physicians who participated in the study, 43.5% reported burnout. Physicians younger than 55 were more likely to report burnout than older physicians, and women were more likely than men to report burnout.
This study suggests that workplace stress can reduce physician retention. Among physicians who reported burnout, 4.8% changed their practice compared to 3.4% of physicians who did not report burnout. 5.4% of physicians who experienced burnout stopped practicing altogether, compared with 3.7% of physicians who did not experience burnout.
These findings highlight the urgent need to address working conditions and professional satisfaction, both for the stability of the physician workforce and patient well-being. ”
Dr. Dhruv Kural, Associate Professor of Population Health Sciences at Weill Cornell University and Co-Principal Investigator of the Study
Physician burnout and turnover have clinical, organizational, and economic implications. “This issue definitely deserves more attention,” Dr. Bond said.
Further research may identify practices, systems, and policy factors that may reduce physician burnout and turnover. Although this study found a correlation, additional research is needed to establish a causal relationship between burnout and turnover.
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Reference magazines:
Halal, D. Others. (2026). Family physician turnover and burnout. JAMA Internal Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2026.0271. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2846971
