If physician burnout is not addressed, more physicians will continue to leave practice before retirement age, exacerbating the impending physician shortage, the American Medical Association said in a Sept. 27 blog post.
Two in 5 physicians said they planned to leave practice within five years, according to AMA survey data. Here are three ways to boost the workforce and ease burnout, according to the AMA.
1. Expand access for international medical graduates
There's a lot of opportunity in expanding access for international medical graduates to provide care in the U.S., the AMA said.
2. Get rid of the stigma against asking for help
There is often a stigma when physicians are burned out and need help.
"We have systems that have made it hard for students and for physicians to get help when they need it," said Jesse Ehrenfeld, MD, president of the AMA.
3. Fix the system
"Burnout manifests in individuals, but it originates in systems," Dr. Ehrenfeld said. "The AMA has put a lot of effort into creating toolkits for health systems to try to re-engineer processes, to get to the system root cause of the drivers of exhaustion and burnout."