AMA Physician Well-being Program

UPDATED . 3 MIN READ

The AMA’s Physician Well-Being Program aims to raise awareness, advance knowledge and catalyze change to reduce burnout and promote joy, meaning and purpose for physicians, practices and health systems.

Creating thriving practices

Learn more about the AMA’s efforts to improve professional satisfaction and practice sustainability.


Practice Transformation Logo

The AMA grounds its practice transformation work in ongoing research in professional satisfaction and organizational well-being. AMA-led research has helped to identify system-level drivers associated with physician and care team burnout, consequences when burnout is not addressed, and strategies organizations can implement for effective and sustainable changes in the well-being of their physicians and care teams.


The Organizational Biopsy® (PDF) is a well-being assessment tool developed and offered by the AMA to support organizations in holistically measuring and taking action to improve the well-being of their organization. The Organizational Biopsy provides a comprehensive assessment across four domains:

  • Organizational Culture (leadership, teamwork, trust, etc.)
  • Practice Efficiency (team structure, team stability, workflows, etc.)
  • Self-Care (post-traumatic stress, post-traumatic growth, work-life balance, etc.)
  • Retention (work intentions)

The AMA STEPS Forward® Program offers open access practice innovation strategies that allow physicians and their teams to thrive in the evolving health care environment. Physicians looking to refocus their practice can find practical, actionable steps to implementation with toolkits and playbooks, podcasts, videos, success stories, interactive tools and more.

Key resources

The AMA Debunking Regulatory Myths series helps physicians and care teams understand medical regulatory requirements.

Key regulatory victories: The AMA advocates against administrative burden by shaping more than 40 policies and securing 12 regulatory victories.


The AMA Joy in Medicine™ Health System Recognition Program serves as a strategic roadmap (PDF) to support organizations in their journey to improve professional satisfaction and organizational well-being. The goal of the program is to unite the health care community in building a culture committed to increasing joy in medicine for the profession nationwide.

Since the program’s launch in 2019,  more than 80 health systems have been recognized for their dedication to building well-being and reducing physician burnout in their organization.


The AMA is a proud co-sponsor of two prominent conferences focused specifically on combating physician burnout and improving physician health and well-being.

American Conference on Physician Health

Oct. 11–13, 2023 | JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa—Palm Desert, Calif.

The biennial American Conference on Physician Health (ACPH) is a joint scientific conference sponsored by Mayo Clinic, Stanford Medicine and the American Medical Association that promotes scientific research and discourse on health system infrastructure and actionable steps organizations can take to improve physician well-being. Registration for ACPH 2023 opens June 1!

International Conference on Physician Health

Fall 2024 | Location TBD, Canada

The biennial International Conference on Physician Health™, supported by the Canadian Medical Association, British Medical Association and American Medical Association, supports doctors and medical students in creating better working environments for themselves and their colleagues.

For more information on the AMA’s event programming on physician health, email [email protected].


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