Over half of the doctors age 50-65 are planning to retire, seek non-clinical jobs, or significantly reduce the number of patients they see during the next 3 years, according to a survey conducted by Merritt, Hawkins, and Associates.
The survey, reported by Dr. Dean Edell on the HealthCentral.com website, indicates that “8% of physicians in this age group plan to retire in the next three years, 10% plan to seek non-patient care medical positions, 3% plan to seek jobs outside of medicine, 6% plan to work on a temporary basis, 17% plan to close their practices to new patients or significantly reduce their workloads, and 7% plan to seek other non-clinical career alternatives.” Each of these options would limit patient access to the 255,000 physicians 50 or older, who comprise 38% of all doctors, according to the American Medical Association.
For more information on this survey, please see the article by Dr. Edell on the HealthCentral.com website.
