This story is one of more than 20 health system profiles featured in the 2025 AMA Joy in Medicine® magazine (log into your AMA account to view).
Supporting physicians is of utmost importance at Hattiesburg Clinic, a multispecialty physician-owned and governed practice located in 17 counties in Mississippi.
From onboarding new physicians to advocating for them both inside and outside the clinic walls, no matter where they are in their careers, there’s a conscious effort to make physicians at Hattiesburg Clinic feel part of a community—one where they are connected to one another and have a say in how that community functions.
Surveys show that the efforts make a difference in helping physicians feel less burned out and retain more of the joy that spurred them to go into medicine in the first place.
Among the 110 Hattiesburg Clinic physicians who completed the AMA’s Organizational Biopsy®, most were in family medicine. The responses from physicians at Hattiesburg Clinic showed that:
- 84.6% reported feeling satisfied with their job.
- 48.2% disclosed job-related stress.
- 36.4% expressed feeling some level of burnout.
- 21.9% stated plans to leave the organization within two years.
Hattiesburg Clinic CEO Bryan Batson, MD, says that supporting physician well-being is a continual effort, but that helping physicians retain joy in medicine is an ever-changing and evolving piece of what their organization tries to do.
“One of the things we've learned over the last several years, especially coming out of the pandemic,” says Dr. Batson, “is that the focus on physician well-being and having joy in the practice of medicine has more to do with culture and feeling valued and grounded in the principles that are consistent with their core beliefs on why they went into health care in the first place.”
“It's really about a cultural fit and a cultural feel. Certainly, project plans are important, but this is bigger than any one person or one committee or one project plan,” he says. It’s important to have a culture where there is a feeling “of collaboration and belonging and being part of the mission and vision and values of an organization.”
“It’s about a sense of feeling valued—being part of a greater calling and an organization that recognizes and supports that,” Dr. Batson adds.
With Hattiesburg Clinic offering a physician-owned, independent setting rather than a practice where a doctor is employed, community building really starts in the recruitment process. They take the time to understand a candidate and determine whether they will be a good fit for the 62-year-old organization that has a very different mindset than a practice with an employment arrangement.
