The Physician Shortage Isn’t Just a Statistic—It’s Personal.

Last week, I found out that my own primary care physician had left her practice. It hit me like a ton of bricks. She was more than just a doctor to me—she was someone who listened to and understood my experiences as a Black woman, a physician, a professional, a mom, and a caregiver. We bonded instantly, and her empathy and expertise made a world of difference.

Now, I’m without a primary care physician. And this loss feels all too familiar. 

I left clinical medicine after suffering from burnout. It was a painful decision, but one I made to save myself and to work on solutions for a system in crisis. Learning that my physician left reminded me again of how broken this system is and how deeply the physician shortage impacts not just doctors but patients and entire communities.

Don’t think there’s a physician shortage?

• Just ask patients who wait weeks to see a primary care physician or months to see a specialist.
• Just ask the hospitals and health centers forced to close their doors due to staffing issues.
• Just ask the organizations scrambling to replace a shrinking pool of physicians.

In a new report, the Association of American Medical Colleges projects that the nation’s physician shortage could reach up to 86,000 by 2036.

Here's why:

The number of Americans 65 or older is expected to grow by 34% by 2036.

In the coming years, the physician workforce will move toward retirement age, with 1 in 5 doctors (20%) being 65 or older and another 22% between the ages of 55 and 64.

Between 2021 and 2022, when asked about the likelihood of leaving their current organization within two years, 40% of physicians said they had a moderate interest in leaving,

6-7% of American physicians leave their practices each year, with this turnover rate continuing to rise, according to an exclusive survey by the AMA.

The AAMC has also pointed to the need to attract a more diverse group of students to meet the nation’s healthcare needs.

Physician shortage is a real, urgent problem.

When decisions were made to limit residency slots in 1997 through the Balanced Budget Act, where Congress capped the number of Medicare-funded residency positions for medical school graduates, effectively limiting the overall number of available residency slots nationwide, no one anticipated the aging population or the number of physicians who would leave medicine or age out. It was poor planning, plain and simple.

You need one primary care physician per 3500 patients. According to the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis, based on a minimum adequate population-to-primary care physician ratio of 3,500 to 1, HRSA estimates that the United States needs 13,075 additional physicians to remove all primary care shortage designations.

Some systems have taken on the challenge of building more medical schools. Even if we increase residency slots and build more medical schools, we still need a talent pool that wants to enter medicine and the support and resources to keep them there.

And let’s be clear: physicians can’t simply be replaced. You can’t shortcut the years of training, the experience of diagnosing complex cases, or the expertise developed from seeing countless patients and following them through their care journey. I remember, during my medical school and residency training, being told that not all patients present like the textbook and you need to be able to identify the red flags and the zebras. Only experience and volume can expose you to those scenarios. Also, not all patients are the same, so what works for one person or group of individuals based on race, gender, or ethnicity may not work for everyone.

AI won’t help with this. Google can't give you these answers. Only trained professionals can.

Organizations must wake up and create environments where physicians want to stay and grow. Leaders must leave their egos at the door and adapt to the needs of the people doing the work. Instead of forcing physicians to fit rigid priorities and missions, they need to align with physicians’ values and passions. They need to invest in diverse talent—people with more than just medical competency and then learn how to lead them.

Healthcare has changed, and when you’re adapting to a new environment, you can’t stay the same. It’s the old saying crazy is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. But unless we start treating this crisis with the seriousness it deserves, more physicians will leave, more patients will go without care, and the healthcare system will continue to decline.

I left clinical medicine because I wanted to save myself and be part of the solution. But today, I feel the weight of the work we still have to do.

Regulators who continue to place a chokehold on physicians when it comes to pay, and administrative tasks will only worsen the shortage.

Learning institutions that fail to adopt new curriculums that address the gap in knowledge and skills that physicians need to survive in healthcare will see their students leave prematurely.

Healthcare systems that continue to see physicians as just worker bees and not as an integral part of the team where their input is valued and utilized will continue to have a turnover issue.

Structures that take away physician autonomy will continue to see a rise in physician burnout.

This is my call to action for healthcare leaders: Take this seriously. We need to make real changes now if we want high-performing organizations, better patient outcomes, and a sustainable healthcare system.

Here are areas where we can find solutions:

Pay- compensating physicians fairly for their work which includes administrative tasks. And for those who say and think physicians are paid enough or too much, a physician's salary only makes up 7.5% of the total U.S. healthcare spending, yet it is the first thing attacked when healthcare costs rise.

Hours/Flexibility- Work-life integration is important for physicians to be able to work in this already demanding field. Organizations need flexible work options so physicians can have the time for self-care and to raise their families.

Leadership development- Leadership development has been shown to help reduce burnout and provide physicians with the skills they need to thrive in their careers. It's not just about attaining a leadership role but about having a leadership mindset to deal with complex challenges and help drive innovation and performance.

Coaching/Peer Coaching- Physicians who have the opportunity to have a coach who understands their struggles, fears, and career journeys adapt better, are more self-aware, learn to create better boundaries, manage conflict, and take on a leadership mindset.

What are you doing to make sure your organization is a place where physicians want to stay and thrive?

Let’s talk about it.

Ready to take the next step? If you are a healthcare organization looking to build a sustainable system where physicians want to stay and thrive and patient outcomes improve, sign up for a discovery call here or email me at drherbert@justtherightbalance.com to learn how we can help you.