Physicians are exiting medicine faster than the sector can replace them. We’ve been facing burnout, workforce shortages, growing administrative burdens, and other mounting pressures. Physicians are 82 percent more likely to burn out than workers in other occupations, and for many years, traditional practice models have offered few alternatives. As a result, there is a deepening sustainability crisis occurring in medicine.
As a practicing anesthesiologist for more than 30 years, these numbers are concerning because of what it means long term for my specialty. The conditions that drive burnout are ones that I have felt personally. I too have wanted more time with my family, to travel with my wife and daughters, to lean into my hobbies, and to not miss the “big” life moments. I also don’t want to leave medicine as I still feel I have more years left to contribute to society. I also believe many seasoned physicians are like me and don’t want to leave. They’re simply searching for a sustainable work-life balance that makes staying possible.
In doing so, many physicians, as well as health care organizations looking to retain them, are gaining a broader perspective on what’s broken in health care. They are looking at what better models could look like in order to sustain providers, especially those like me, in the latter half of our careers. Based on my own experience, I believe reimagining what a career can look like is entirely possible.
The workforce crisis is bigger than one specialty
This workforce issue is not just in anesthesiology, though we’re being impacted in significant ways. The number of anesthesiologists rapidly retiring is climbing, for a variety of reasons, from pandemic fallout, to practices being acquired by private equity or absorbed into larger health systems, and reduced autonomy that affects work-life balance in practice. In my specialty, there is a projected national shortage to the tune of roughly 8,450 anesthesiologists by 2037. Additionally, over 57 percent of practicing anesthesiologists are over the age of 55, with more than 17 percent, like me, close to retirement.
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This impacts patient care, especially in rural and underserved areas. While there isn’t a quick fix to address every reason why a physician may choose retirement over staying in practice, what’s clear is that across specialties, physicians are increasingly wanting more flexible options to practice their craft while maintaining firmer boundaries between home and work.
Atul Grover, MD, PhD, executive director of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Research and Action Institute, told the NEJM Career Center, “What we’re seeing, and what the surveys are telling us, is that physicians today really want true work/life balance. And they really don’t want to take their jobs home with them.”
Physicians are pushing back in big ways on unsustainable practices that have become normalized over decades. So what does longevity in medicine look like for those who want to pursue a different path?
Reimagining what career longevity looks like
Historically, medicine has often framed physician careers as binary: full-time traditional practice or retirement. But that narrative has been transitioning for a while, especially for late-career physicians who would like to stay engaged in patient care but leave behind the physical and administrative demands of full-time practice.
A narrative I see gaining traction is that medicine no longer has to mean enduring unsustainable practice models indefinitely. Physicians are increasingly choosing a middle ground, whether you’re a physician contemplating retirement or a resident wanting something different out of the gate.
My middle ground became locum tenens, a temporary physician role that fills gaps in care. After 30 years in combined academic and private practice, I wanted more time with my family and to travel. I’m not alone. In 2016, only 20 percent of physicians had ever worked locum tenens. As of 2025, that number had doubled to 41 percent. Another benefit to working as a locum came after I had been practicing for a couple of years. Working with so many different health care organizations across different parts of the country gave me a greater perspective of what is happening across our sector. The issues that led me to reframe my career were not unique. Physicians across the country are continuously forced to navigate and integrate into a system under significant strain, but what if the alternative is reimagining what our careers can look like?
Many physicians spend decades inside one system, one city, or one operational culture. Understandably, this narrower vantage point makes it difficult to fully understand how differently care is delivered and where health care organizations may be falling short.
Retaining experienced physicians requires new priorities
Health care cannot afford to lose experienced physicians at the current rate, especially in rural and underserved communities that are already experiencing provider shortages and a lack of specialists. Rethinking the blueprint for how physicians can practice medicine is a step in the right direction. This can allow room for priorities that really matter to physicians, such as work-life balance, better scheduling, autonomy, operational efficiency, and greater physician leadership roles, not to mention alternative staffing and practice models. Locum tenens isn’t the only path. For some, the transition might mean consulting, pursuing an academic role, or taking on project-based work. Still, it is a viable alternative that was once looked down on.
Many physicians still want to practice, teach, mentor, and contribute. The question is whether our health care system is willing to evolve enough to make that a reality and keep physicians like me from facing an unsustainable future.
Kenneth Song is an anesthesiologist.
