According to a new study from the Journal of General Internal Medicine, female physicians are significantly more likely to leave medicine early than their male counterparts. Here’s what’s driving the exit––and how locums can help.
Women are leaving medicine 15 years earlier than men, on average.
A recent study from the Journal of General Internal Medicine found that female physicians are 43% more likely to leave clinical practice than male physicians at any age.
The greatest disparity was in psychiatry, where female psychiatrists were found to be 72% more likely to leave clinical practice early than male psychiatrists, followed by primary care, where women are 55% more likely to leave than men. But while the gaps varied by specialty, in every single specialty of the six categories surveyed, women were over 25% more likely to leave clinical practice early. The gap also held true regardless of setting: both rural and urban settings found the same significant discrepancies between women and men’s median age of leaving the medical field.
The study found that women are leaving the field at a median age of 49 years old––compared to 64 years old for men.
That means on average, the medical field is missing out on 15 years of contribution and expertise from women leaving the field.
What are the factors driving women to leave medicine?
Given that the United States is already facing a shortages of physicians, it’s more urgent than ever to understand the factors that are driving women physicians to retire early, so we can address them.
Many of the factors women cited in the study align with those physicians across the medical field point to as contributors to burnout—such as time spent on administrative work, including electronic health record documentation and patient messages. Women, however, also reported lower pay, greater work–life imbalance, and less control over their schedules.
Addressing these issues is an urgent problem that requires long-term and holistic solutions: like payment models that incentivize quality over care over quantity of patients seen. But in the meantime, many women physicians are still struggling to balance their love of medicine, with the very real burnout that drives so many of them to leave the medical field early.
That’s where locums comes in.
Locums can help keep women in medicine longer, by giving them more control over how they work.
While the issues pointed out in the study require broader long-term changes, locum tenens can help in the short-term by offering women physicians an alternative way to practice medicine instead of choosing to leave.
Locums allows you to regain control over your career by finding assignments that fit your priorities––whether that means earning a good income, finding a better work-life balance, lessening your administrative workload, or all of the above.
Locums tends to pay at higher rates than traditional full-time roles. Because hospitals are willing to pay a premium to fill urgent roles, women are in a better position to negotiate their rates, so they can ensure they are paid fairly.
“One of the things I recommend is that physicians do their research, so they have the power to negotiate for the value that they’re bringing to the table,” said Dr. Oneica Poole. “If you’re comfortable doing that, you can earn a good income with locums. And it takes that pressure off of having to work all the time, which I think is one of the things that contributes to burnout.”
Locums also helps combat administrative burnout, by letting physicians focus on what they love about medicine, instead of the administrative logistics surrounding it.
“As a locums physician, I feel very free of the system. I don’t have to worry about fixing administrative problems or attending high-level meetings, because I’m solely there to see patients,” said locum neurologist Dr. Erica Tauck.
Of the many reasons we hear from women physicians who’ve opted to transition to locums, better work-life balance is the one we hear most often.
As a locums physician, you can choose a schedule that works around your life, instead of building your life around your work schedule. That means you have more time to focus on your priorities: whether those are spending more time with your family, or pursuing other interests.
“When I had a traditional job, I felt like I was only half a doctor and half a mom,” said Dr. Tauck. “When I was home, I was always thinking about my patients, and when I was at work, I was thinking about what to make for dinner. With locums, not only do I get more days at home with my kids, but on the days I’m home, I don’t have to worry about work at all. I love being able to be 100% doctor and 100% mom.”
Locums offers what most full-time physicians can only dream of: free time.
“Locums gave me more time to pursue and cultivate other passions,” said Dr. Poole. “ I still consider pediatrics my first love, but now I have all these other ways that I’m able to serve and to be creative. It certainly is allowing me to live the life that I want to live.”
During a time when women physicians are burning out at a much higher rate, locums can be a stopgap that allows you to continue practicing, without sacrificing your well-being.
“Locums is a great way to transition in one’s career, if you’re looking for something different, but you’re not ready to give up medicine completely,” said locums urologist Dr. Fenwa Milhouse.
“Especially if you’re on the brink of complete burnout, it’s a way of combating that but still practicing. When I was practicing every day, I was always getting home late and leaving home early. But now, I can be here when my daughter comes home from school, and be there to drop her off at the bus stop, and help her with math, and all these other things that I wasn’t able to do on a day-to-day basis before locums.”
During a time when women are dropping out of medicine at an alarming rate, we have to do everything we can to keep them in the field, so we don’t lose the expertise and quality care they bring to their patients and their facilities.
Locums can help, by empowering you to find a job that values your unique skills, and enables you to practice on a schedule that works for you. At Hayes Locums, we place a high priority on listening to and building relationships with our physicians, so we can find them the jobs that best suit your schedule, lifestyle, and priorities. If you’re a physician who is looking to make a change, we are ready to help!
