Just as COVID-19 led to a much higher number of deaths for the public than what would have been anticipated without the virus, during the same time physicians in the workforce saw more than 600 excess deaths among their profession.

Nearly two-thirds of physicians report experiencing burnout, but the term burnout misses the larger issues: Physicians are demoralized and losing faith in the systems they work for, Eric Reinhart, MD, a physician at Evanston-based Northwestern University, wrote in a Feb. 5 guest essay for The New York Times.

Washington, D.C., has the highest percentage of female physicians at 49 percent, and Idaho has the lowest at 26 percent.

A Maryland Senate bill wants to create a task force to identify why its hospital emergency departments have the longest wait times in the country and find ways to remedy the issue, NBC affiliate WBAL reported Feb. 2.

Eyeing solutions to the national shortage of infectious disease professionals, a survey commissioned by the Infectious Diseases Society of America found that 65 percent of U.S. adults support forgiveness of federal student loan debt for infectious disease professionals as a way to help retain experts and attract new ones to the field.

Yale researchers found a machine-learning program could predict which physicians would leave the job and identified four variables that lead to high departure risk.

If reelected, former President Donald Trump says he will aim to punish physicians and hospitals who provide gender-affirming care to minors, according to a video published on his campaign website Feb. 1. 

Last year, 53 percent of physicians reported burnout. Among them, emergency medicine specialists had the highest rate at 65 percent, according to Medscape's latest report on physician burnout and depression. 

A condition that affects 42 percent of adults in the U.S. is one that medical schools only spend around 10 hours training future physicians on, a new study found. Obesity was formally declared an epidemic by the World Health Organization more than 25 years ago — in 1997.

A Wisconsin lawsuit could determine whether third parties can compel hospitals and physicians to provide treatments even when those treatments are not proved effective. However, no physician should have to choose between a legal imperative or their ethical obligation to patients, American Medical Association President Jack Resneck Jr., MD, wrote in an article published on the group's website Jan. 31.

A Missouri House bill aims to streamline the process for out-of-state physicians to practice in the state, the Columbia Missourian reported Jan. 31.

Colorado legislators are trying for a third time to pass a bill that would give physician assistants the ability to practice without physician supervision after meeting certain requirements, ABC affiliate KMGH reported Jan. 30.

A recent Medscape report found physician burnout has increased to 53 percent — up 6 percent since 2021 — and 23 percent of physicians reported experiencing depression.

New research found that nurse practitioners have more malpractice suits when working in a physician office than in an office owned by a nurse practitioner.

Charlotte, N.C.-based Novant Health has laid off Philip Brown, MD, according to a Jan. 25 report from NBC affiliate WECT. Dr. Brown was the health system's chief community impact officer and former executive vice president and chief physician executive at Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, N.C.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, violence and abuse toward healthcare workers has skyrocketed. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that professionals in the healthcare industry experience violence at five times the rate of individuals in other branches of the workforce.

A bill to ban new physician noncompete agreements passed the Indiana Senate Health and Provider Services Committee on Jan. 25, Indiana Public Media reported.

Editor's note: This letter to the editor is in response to the article New York physicians push for aid-in-dying law. It has been lightly edited.

New Jersey's Hospital-based Violence Intervention Program secured a $10 million grant in the form of American Rescue Plan funds, TapInto reported Jan. 23.

Seattle-based University of Washington Medicine created a $20 million deanship to honor retired dean Paul Ramsey, MD.