Radiology among top 3 specialties with highest intent to leave current job
Radiologists are among the top 3 specialists with the highest intent to leave their job, according to new survey data from the American Medical Association.
Anesthesiology came in at No. 1, with about 40.6% of those polled expressing a desire to leave their current gig within the next two years. Vascular surgeons came in at No. 2 (at 40.5%), followed by radiology (39%), general surgery (38.4%) and otolaryngology (36.6%). Findings were gathered from a survey of 18,000 physicians across 43 states and working at over 100 healthcare organizations, who participated in the AMA Organizational Biopsy in 2024.
The association highlighted a “promising shift” found in the data, as fewer doctors said they intend to leave their current healthcare organizations within the next two years.
“The downward trend suggests that health systems are making meaningful progress in addressing long-standing issues such as physician burnout, work-life balance and administrative burden,” AMA said in a news update published June 24. “While the needle is moving in the right direction, sustained effort and deeper structural changes are needed to retain and support the nation’s physicians.”
From 2023 to 2024, about 31.9% of physicians said they had a moderate interest in leaving their job within the next two years, or that they’d like to or “definitely would” leave during that period. That represents a drop from the 35.7% seen in 2023, with intent to leave highest among docs with 20 or more years of experience. Dermatology had the lowest intent-to-leave rate at 19.9%, the AMA reported, followed by infectious disease specialists (23.3%) and pediatricians (26.9%).
Meanwhile, about 35% of physicians surveyed said they plan to cut their hours in the next year, down from 35.9% in 2023 and 38.1% in 2022. Physicians also shared factors that might motivate them to stay in their current organization. Top answers included higher compensation (57.9%), enhanced workflow efficiency (46.2%), consistent staffing (43.2%), less documentation and after-hours work (42.6%) and fewer EHR hassles (42.4%).
“Between 2023 and 2024, fewer physicians are reporting an intent to leave their current organizations within two years,” AMA noted, sharing examples of hospital programs aimed at improving retention. “This may signal that health systems are stepping up to the plate and making changes to retain their current physician workforce.”
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.