This is a study commissioned by an organization which represents physicians, making it vulnerable to questions about bias.

However, the fact that no one has commissioned such a study before is surprising.

Independent surveys need to be done to verify or clarify this trend.

As there already is a shortage of primary care physicians, which can only get worse given that medical students today are not choosing it, more information about this is needed— and quickly.

A sample of 12,000 physicians is a lot of doctors, who are famously hard to survey. Sample size gets an “A.”

If, in fact, the study is representative of the specialty, and approximately 10 percent plan to exit in the next one to three years, then that would be a national emergency.

CNN

…“A first-ever survey of 12,000 primary care physicians conducted last October by Merritt Hawkins and the Physicians’ Foundation, an organization that represent the interests of physicians, showed that 10.1% of respondents planned to seek a job outside of health care in the next one to three years.”

…”The American Medical Association said it is aware of this trend, citing the survey, but said it does not have data to show how many doctors have already prematurely exited the profession.”

Source: CNN, September 15, 2009