Despite growing awareness of physician burnout and efforts to address it, a persistent gender gap continues to shape how physicians experience their work. Exclusive AMA data shows that women physicians remain more likely to report burnout than their male counterparts, underscoring that progress may be uneven.
As health systems work to improve physician well-being, the AMA findings highlight an ongoing need for targeted strategies that better support women in medicine and address the structural and cultural factors driving this burnout gap.
Nearly 19,000 responses from physicians across 38 states were received from 106 health systems and organizations who participated in the AMA Organizational Biopsy® last year. Of the organizations that participated, 34 health systems were recognized in 2024 and 2025 from the AMA Joy in Medicine® Health System Recognition Program.
The National Physician Comparison Report is exclusive data to the AMA and the Organizational Biopsy. The report reflects 2025 trends on five key performance indicators—job satisfaction, job stress, burnout, intent to leave and feeling valued—as well as additional analysis of drivers and key findings. Download the National Physician Comparison Report (email required to access).
For 2025, 41.9% of physicians reported experiencing at least one symptom of burnout, down from 43.2% in 2024 and 48.2% in 2023.
But women physicians were still more likely to report symptoms of burnout—at 46%—compared with 37% of men. This is a drop from 47.2% of women physicians and 38.9% of men in 2024.
While male physicians saw improvements in other key performance indicators highlighted in the 2025 report, women physicians saw mixed results with the gender gap widening.
Lower job satisfaction and feeling valued
For 2025, 77.1% women physicians and 78.6% of their male counterparts felt satisfied with their jobs. This is compared with 77.4% of women and men physicians the year prior.
Meanwhile, 53.3% of women physicians reported feeling valued by their organization. This is compared with 59.6% of male physicians who said they felt valued.
Women physicians are also less likely to report trust in their health care leadership. In fact, compared with male physicians, female doctors report significantly lower odds of trusting local and executive leadership.
When Henry Ford Health and Ascension Southeast Michigan announced a joint venture, trust was an area of focus. Long before the joint venture was finalized, the leadership team began organizing a physician advisory council. The intent was to build trust at the leadership level and establish processes for cultural integration. The initiative also included surveys, listening sessions, focus groups and weekly newsletters to keep every stakeholder—at every level and in every role—fully informed.
It’s also important for local and executive leaders to show that physician well-being is a priority across the system. When Suzanna Fox, MD, an ob-gyn who is executive vice president and chief physician officer of Advocate Health, spoke at the 2025 American Conference on Physician Health™ in Boston, she received a lot of questions from physicians about how they were struggling to develop this work because their leaders didn’t see the importance of it. By having the executive leadership team as key players in the well-being work at Advocate Health, trust and support are aligned.
But like a particularly high-stakes game of Trivial Pursuit, good physician leadership requires getting more than just one piece of the pie in place. Great physician leaders need to be adept on multiple fronts, said Galen Sorom, MD, an internist and physician leader at Confluence Health. Some health care leaders, for example, already are strong on the use of quality metrics. Others excel as communicators while other physician leaders understand their organizations inside and out.
Higher job stress, lower intent to leave
For women physicians, 46.9% answered “agree” or “strongly agree” to the statement: “I feel a great deal of stress because of my job.” Meanwhile, 38.6% of male physicians reported a great deal of stress. This is compared with 49.9% of women physicians and 40.2% of their male counterparts in 2024.
While women physicians reported higher levels of burnout than men, the numbers told a different story on intent to leave. For women physicians, 29% said they intended to leave their current roles within the next two years compared with 31.5% of men.
Physicians aren’t always able to control important facets of their lives in practice, but if health care organizations want to keep them—and keep them happy—they will find ways to prioritize the physician voice and include them in the decision-making process. Doing so is an intentional organizational choice and it is key to physician satisfaction and patient care. That’s why HCA Healthcare offers workshops that focus on supporting physician autonomy, belonging, competence and meaning. Good benefits and individual physician support programs also complement systemic workplace interventions. But for real change to occur, they must go hand-in-hand.
This is also where relationships can help. Sanford Health has built a physician well-being program focused on relationships and collective responsibility that has produced positive results culturally, emotionally and financially. Robust and genuine connections have been carefully nurtured to help keep more than 4,000 physicians and other health professionals throughout the Midwest healthy and happy—on and off the job—for five years now.
But for Nadine Hammoud, MD, well-being and flexibility in practice looks a little different. Private practice has given her the flexibility she needs and wants. As the owner of a physician private practice that is part of Privia Health, Dr. Hammoud said she is empowered to find and define her own style of medicine. Free from red tape and rigid protocols, she is able to explore and refine the way she works to find what’s best for her and her patients.
Download the 2025 AMA Joy in Medicine magazine (log into your AMA account to view) to see whether your organization is part of the prestigious group of 164 organizations across 40 states and the District of Columbia that are currently recognized for their dedication to physician well-being.
AMA STEPS Forward® offers real-world solutions to common challenges in health care today. Explore a variety of innovative, physician-developed resources designed to help prevent physician burnout, optimize workflows, improve well-being and enhance patient care.
