Physicians are facing a number of changes and challenges in 2025 — with some good news about burnout rates, some bad news around aging physicians and some surprising shifts in the physician workforce makeup.
Here are 10 things to know about the current state of the physician workforce.
1. The number of independent physicians in U.S. rural areas fell 43%, from 21,956 in January 2019 to 12,467 in January 2024. Similarly, the number of medical practices in rural areas declined 11% from 30,000 in January 2019 to 26,700 in January 2024.
2. The number of physicians who considered leaving the profession at least once a week decreased 22% since November 2023. And more than half are reporting better work experiences.
3. Burnout and depression rates declined for physicians. Across all specialties, 29% of physicians reported feeling burned out, 6% reported feeling depressed and 18% feeling both burned out and depressed. Neurologists reported the highest rate of burnout at 43% while oncologists reported the highest rate of depression at 15%.
4. Compared to 2024, the National Resident Matching Program saw a 5.3% increase in certified applicants to 47,208 and a 4.2% increase in positions to 43,237 in 2025. This was due, in part, to increased positions filled by international and DO graduates. International medical graduates filled 33.3% of categorical internal medicine positions, 20.4% of categorical pediatrics positions and 17.6% of family medicine positions. U.S. DO seniors increased the percentage of filled positions in child neurology by 4.9 percentage points, medicine-pediatrics by 1.8 percentage points and orthopedic surgery by 1.3 percentage points.
5. More women are becoming physicians, leading to a trend known as the feminization of medicine. In the 1980s, women made up about 30% of medical school students, but now they make up 54%. Between 2004 and 2022, the number of women in the active physician workforce jumped 97%, compared to an increase of 13% among men. And for the sixth year in a row, women outnumber men in medical schools. Despite more than half of medical students being women, they still represented only 38% of active physicians nationwide in 2022.
6. Six states have banned physician noncompete agreements: Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
7. The financial burden of physician turnover and open positions is on the rise. The cost in lost finances invested to recruit a physician, along with the loss in potential billings per month, can drive the potential cost of one physician search to more than $500,000. Open physician spots can also impact the economics of the community. An office-based physician on average supports about 17 jobs and pays a total of $1.4 million in wages and benefits. They also provide an average of $126,129 in local and state tax revenue.
8. Since 2023, nine states have dropped their residency program requirements for foreign-trained physicians, and more than a dozen other states are considering doing the same. Currently, about 26% of practicing physicians in the U.S. are foreign-born, and many are recruited to practice in rural areas. However, critics say there are better ways to increase the number of rural physicians, including increasing pay, expanding loan repayment programs and creating accelerated training for nurse practitioners and physician assistants who want to become physicians.
9. There are two pipeline issues for physicians: a struggle to recruit new graduates and an increasing number of active physicians retiring. More than a third of currently active physicians will reach retirement age within the next decade. In 2023, physicians 65 and older were 23.4% of the active clinical workforce.
10. As of Feb. 20, 521 hospitals and 43 physician licensure boards have removed mental health questions or stigmatizing language from their applications. This is part of a movement to make access to mental health care easier for physicians, who often fear losing their license if they seek help.