Here are three updates on physician unions since Aug. 1, as reported by Becker's:

For many physicians, weighing the scales of independence and employment comes down to leverage.

Johns Hopkins will begin waiving tuition for all students from families earning less than $300,000 a year after it received a $1 billion gift from former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Union officials for a Massachusetts healthcare workers union vented their frustrations over delays in Steward Health Care's bankruptcy proceedings. 

The physician burnout rate dropped below 50% for the first time in four years, according to a survey by the American Medical Association. 

Between increased workloads due to staffing shortages, insufficient pay and a growing lack of autonomy in employed settings,  unionization has breached a number of health systems and physician communities. 

After months of negotiations, physicians and fellows at Bakersfield, Calif.-based Kern Medical Center reached an agreement with hospital management, according to an Aug. 7 news release shared with Becker's.  

The last 10 years have seen a notable drop in the share of physicians who are independently employed. 

Norfolk, Va.,-based Sentara Health plans to roughly double the amount of residency and fellowship positions offered through the system, according to an Aug. 5 Williamsburg Yorktown Daily report. 

Amid labor shortages, consolidation and increased demand for healthcare services, physician employment is a complex environment. 

Sound Physicians will lay off 98 employees in Tucson, Ariz., according to regulatory documents filed with the state July 30.

Washington, D.C. has the highest number of physicians per capita — seven times more than Idaho, the state with the fewest, according to an analysis by financial management website WalletHub.

Improving the practice of medicine for physicians has been a priority for many in the healthcare industry — and efforts are finally beginning to pay off.

Artificial intelligence is being used across the medical industry, from assisting with highly complex procedures to improving diagnostic accuracy. It could also be a powerful tool in the fight against physician burnout. 

Resident physicians are often expected to reside in the hospital and put in long hours for considerably less pay, based on the notion that they are training within  their respective fields. But with inflation and labor shortages on the rise, could these expectations be harming residents? 

With staffing shortages and burnout still high in healthcare, new physicians looking for work may be overwhelmed by offers and solicitations. 

The number of years that a physician has been in practice could correlate with their risk of burnout, a recent survey from the American Medical Association found.

Financially troubled Steward Health Care has extended the bid deadline of its physician group to July 22 and the auction deadline to July 25, according to a notice obtained by Becker's.

Here’s five things trends dominating physician employment right now:

Becker's connected with Michael Loftus, MD, senior vice president, chief medical and quality officer at Livingston, N.J.-based Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center, part of West Orange, N.J.-based RWJBarnabas Health, to discuss the effects of the growing focus on physician well-being in healthcare.