ArticleJournal of general internal medicine2026
Sex Differences in Physician Attrition from Clinical Practice Across Specialties: A Nationwide, Longitudinal Analysis.
Article in Journal of general internal medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Why Have All the Doctors Gone? Insights Into Early Clinical Departure Among Physicians in the United States: A National Survey.The Permanente journal · 2026Article
- A National Assessment of Well-being and Mistreatment Among Academic General Surgery Faculty.Annals of surgery · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe USA faces a predicted shortage of 36,500 physicians by 2036, with an increasing proportion of physicians leaving clinical practice or expressing an intent to do so. Female physicians have known differential workplace experiences, and prior studies have demonstrated higher attrition rates by sex in specific specialties.
objectiveTo characterize nationwide hazards of attrition from clinical practice by physician sex across specialties. To describe the relative age at attrition by sex among physicians who leave clinical practice.
designNationwide, longitudinal study based on national Medicare administrative data. SETTING AND
participantsPhysicians across clinical settings who provided care to Medicare patients from 2013 to 2023. MEASUREMENTS: Time to attrition from clinical practice.
resultsThe sample consisted of 707,934 physicians of which 217,013 (30.7%) were female. Over the study period, female physicians had a higher likelihood of clinical practice attrition (HR: 1.43 (95% CI: 1.41, 1.44) compared to male counterparts across physician ages. Hazards of attrition were additionally greater for female physicians across multiple specialty categories (HRs ranging from 1.26 (9% CI: 1.23, 1.28) for hospital-based specialties to 1.72 (95% CI: 1.65, 1.78) for psychiatry specialties) and in both rural (HR: 1.42 (95% CI: 1.37, 1.47) and urban areas (HR: 1.43 (95% CI: 1.41, 1.44). Among physicians who left clinical practice, the median (IQR) age at attrition was significantly lower for females than males (49 (39-61) vs. 64 (53-70) years).
conclusionsUS female physicians are significantly more likely to leave clinical practice than male counterparts at every age, across specialties and practice locations. Among physicians who leave clinical practice, female physicians are younger when they do so. Given projected clinical workforce shortages, health systems and policymakers should pursue interventions and policies that mitigate the concerning trends identified.
Identifiers
41927984What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.