Healthcare Mental Health Statistics

Physicians:  

  • Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the state of physician wellbeing remains low—and the wellbeing of residents and medical students is even lower.  

  • 48.2% of physicians reported experiencing at least one symptom of burnout in 2023, according to 2023 AMA Organizational Biopsy data. 

  • Four in 10 physicians, more than four in 10 (44%) residents and half (50%) of medical students were either afraid or knew another colleague fearful of seeking mental health care given questions asked in medical licensure/credentialling/insurance applications. (2024 Survey of America’s Current and Future Physicians, The Physicians Foundation) 

  • Only 15% of physicians have sought professional help. 

  • 20% of physicians say they are depressed. 

  • Burnout affects female physicians more than male physicians. 

  • Physicians blame administrative burdens, lack of respect from co-workers, and long hours. 

  • Physicians spend nearly 10 hours a week completing EHR documentation. 

From Medscape.com 

Nurses: 

For more information, click here. 

From the American Nurses Association 

Dentists: 

  • Survey data from the 2023 ADA Council on Communications Trend Report found more than 40% of dentists felt defeated, wanted to quit dentistry or did not want to go to work at least monthly in the six months leading up to the survey. These feelings were more common in dentists 44 years old and younger.  

  • More than 90% of dentists reported feeling some type of stress about their careers, according to the survey.  

  • Stressors varied by career stage, with more mid-career dentists experiencing stress about insurance reimbursement and more younger dentists feeling stressed about debt, primarily student loans. 

For more information, click here. 

From the American Dental Association 

Pharmacists: 

  • A 2017 survey by Jones and colleagues found that 61.2% of pharmacists experienced burnout  

  • A 2018 study by Durham and colleagues noted that 53.2% of health-system pharmacists reported scores indicating a high degree of burnout on at least one subscale of the MBI-HSS. 

  • A 2020 study by Ball and colleagues found that 64% of critical care pharmacists surveyed had at least one area of burnout on the MBI-HSS, while a 2020 study by Mathew and colleagues reported that 74.9% of community pharmacists experienced burnout in at least one of the three subscales of the MBI-HSS.  

For more information, click here. 

From the American Pharmacists Association 

Physician Associates: 

  • 41% of PAs are experiencing at least one or more symptoms of burnout or are completely burned out 

  • 56% of PA students are experiencing at least one or more symptoms of burnout or are completely burned out 

  • 79% of PAs are optimistic about the future of the PA profession 

  • 36% of PAs are pessimistic about the future of healthcare 

For more information, click here. 

From the American Academy of Physician Associates  

APRNs:

A 2019 study in the Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners found that:

  • 33.3% of survey advanced practice registered nurses (APRN) reported they had formerly experienced burnout

  • 26.3% reported they were currently experiencing burnout.

For more information, click here.