I'm looking for figures on how many US physicians regret having gone
into medicine. I remember hearing about a survey a few years ago (I
believe it was by Salon magazine?) that said that half of US
physicians would not have gone into medicine if they could do it over
again. It'd be really great if you could help me find any such data.
Thank you!

According to the Massachusetts Medical Society Physician Workforce
Study 2005, only 50% of physicians responded that they were sure they
would choose medicine as a profession again.

Excerpt:

?The responses to the Massachusetts Medical Society 2005 Physician
Workforce Study repeatedly emphasize that the practice environment is
singularly unfriendly.

While 84% of the physicians who par¬ticipated in the survey reported
that the profession of medicine is ?rewarding? or ?very rewarding,?
only one-third of the respondents reported that they are ?satisfied?
or ?very satisfied? with the current practice environment.

In addition, only 50% of physicians responded that they were sure they
would choose medicine as a profession again. Results from the 2005 MMS
Physician Practice Environment Index, coupled with the findings of the
2005 Physician Workforce Study, help to identify the major factors
that contribute to dissatisfaction among medical professionals.?

The Massachusetts Medical Society 2005 Physician Workforce Study
June 6, 2005
http://www.massmed.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NewsandPublications/ResearchReportsStudies/PhysicianWorkforceStudy/workforceo5.htm


Read the executive summary here: 
http://www.massmed.org/AM/TemplateRedirect.cfm?Template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=12798


Download the full report here:
http://www.massmed.org/AM/TemplateRedirect.cfm?Template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=12872


===================================


Figures from a LocumTenens.com study 

?Reflecting the frustrations of modern medical practice, 30% of
anesthesiologists responding to a 2005 survey conducted by physician
recruiting firm www.locumtenens.com said they would not choose
medicine if they could decide their career paths all over again. When
compared to locum tenens industry studies asking the same question of
physicians across a range of specialties, LocumTenens.com's 2005
figure represents increases of 25% since 1997 and 6% since 2003.?

Medical News Today: 12 Feb 2006
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=37576
 
?30% of anesthesiologists responding to our 2005 Physician
Compensation & Employment survey said they would not choose medicine
if they could decide their career paths all over again.?

LocumTenens.com: On the Road  2006
http://www.locumtenens.com/LT/media/gallery/PDF/LocumTenens-otr-anesthesia-q1-2006.pdf

===================================


? Surveys conducted within the past 10 years have shown that 30 to 40
percent of practicing physicians would not choose to enter the medical
profession if they were deciding on a career again.?

Columbia News Service
http://jscms.jrn.columbia.edu/cns/2005-05-03/strickland-healers


===================================


?? 41 percent of young internists regret becoming physicians, 48
percent of physicians age 50 and older plan to retire or see no new
patients in the ensuing three years, 56 percent of older physicians
say they would not choose a medical career again, and consequently a
decrease in the number of medical school applicants for four straight
years.
http://jpands.org/hacienda/letters14.html


===================================


Additional information that might interest you:


In Israel, 65 percent of the respondents said they would choose to
study medicine again if given this choice.

?When the doctors were asked which profession they would choose today
instead of studying medicine, 30 percent said they would study
computers, 18.5 percent said law and 15.9 percent engineering. Only
1.4 percent of the doctors said they would choose to study art.

Some 65 percent of the respondents said they would choose to study
medicine again if given this choice, while 12 percent said they would
not and 23 percent responded they did not know. Among the doctors who
regret choosing their particular medical specialty, half were
anesthesiologists. Pathology and neurosurgery were also areas where
considerable dissatisfaction was expressed.?

Haaretz http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=402416&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y



UK

BMA cohort study of 1995 medical graduates : Fifth report
Desire to practise medicine
Respondents were asked to indicate their views about practising
medicine on the following scale:

1. Very strong desire to practice medicine
2. Strong desire to practice medicine
3. Lukewarm desire to practice medicine
4. Weak desire to practice medicine
5. Regret becoming a doctor

Currently 67% of doctors have a strong or very strong desire to
practice medicine. 27% have a lukewarm desire to practice medicine, 4%
have a weak desire and 2% regret becoming doctors
See table 17 - Desire to practice medicine 1995 ? 1999
http://www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/BMA+Cohort+Study+of+1995+Medical+Graduates+Fifth+Report+~BMA+Cohort+Study+of+1995+Medical+Graduates+Fifth+report+-+desire


Search terms:
percent of physicians regret
regret studying medicine
physicians  survey choose to study medicine again


I hope the information provided is helpful!

Best regards, 

Bobbie7

What an interesting question! My husband is a physician and while we
don't entirely regret our decision, there are times we really wonder
about our decision. If we knew then what we know now, would we still
do it? Now, there's a question.

Of course, we're so fed up with the whole system, that we're bucking
it (read: we've recently quit residency just shy of graduating) and
doing our own thing (cash-based business, etc.). It's not easy (the
system is pretty ingrained, student loans, etc.), but it is incredibly
liberating to get away from that whole mess and do our own thing. I'd
love to hear more comments on this topic--we're obviously very
interested in it. It seems to me that many people are curious about
it.

Sincerely,
Boquinha-ga

It is quite possible that 50% of /all/ people regret their career decisions.

Partly down to human nature, and partly because ... people make mistakes.

http://www.merritthawkins.com/pdf/MHA2006SurveyofPrimaryCarePhysicians.pdf

According to this survey, almost 29% of primary care physicians would
not choose medicine again.