I am only middle aged, and yet, so many of my cohort, including myself, have recently left clinical medicine. There are layer upon layer upon layer of reasons: Even before the pandemic, burnout and discouragement about the current healthcare system were big problems amongst providers. Then, COVID facilitated more departures because of the need to stay home to care for children or even illness and death, sadly. Finally, the national workforce shortage and economic cuts have led to a real crisis in our medical system.
See this piece by Dr. George Hyde, a pediatric resident at Harbor UCLA, as he describes how understaffing is directly harming patient care.
