Physician happiness down since COVID-19 pandemic

Editor's Note

Medscape’s 2023 Physician Lifestyle and Happiness Report finds that physician happiness fell during the COVID-19 pandemic and is not rebounding easily, the January 20 Becker’s Hospital Review reports.

The survey findings include:

• 59% of physicians say they are “somewhat” or “very happy,” down from 84% before COVID-19.
• The percentage of physicians who are happy at work, specifically, fell from 75% before COVID-19 to 48%.
• 53% say they would take a pay decrease in return for better work-life balance.

The report is based on responses from 9,175 US-based physicians in 29 specialties who were surveyed between June 28 and October 3, 2022.