Young doctors are seeking regular schedules, free time

June 14, 2008

A recent survey conducted by Merritt, Hawkins & Associates, a physician staffing firm based in Irving, Texas, found that for 63 percent of medical residents, a concern about a lack of free time was “significant” as they entered the profession in 2006, compared with 15 percent in 2001, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The concerns of young physicians are “giving rise to different types of practice options,” such as small membership-based primary care facilities and hospital-based jobs that allow doctors to have more regular schedules.

In addition, many young physicians are “eschewing fields such as internal medicine, pediatrics and family medicine, choosing instead specialties that offer both higher pay and more predictable work hours,” the Journal reported.

Some critics maintain that young physicians are less committed or focused than their predecessors, but some leaders in the medical profession disagree.

“There has been a sea change in how young physicians today balance professional responsibilities and personal needs,” American Medical Association President Ronald Davis told the Journal. “Physicians who manage their own stress and feel happy with their own daily circumstances are probably better physicians.”