Why So Many Primary Care Doctors Are Quitting
Primary care doctors are struggling, with up to a third saying they’d rather stop seeing patients than continue to practice medicine. In fact, 44% of family doctors and 61% of internal medicine doctors report being burned out, in studies published in the last six months.1
While the pandemic, which was a key driver of physician burnout, may be over, the system is still proving a challenge for physicians who want to practice medicine the way they were trained and the way patients need. Recent research paints a consistent picture: time scarcity, administrative overload and mounting stress are reshaping both the physician experience and the quality of care delivered on the front lines.
Of those struggling with burnout, 39%2 say they may leave medicine, exacerbating the problem.
Time has always been the issue: 81% of primary care physicians report that they do not have enough time with patients, time to think or time to prevent disease rather than react to it, according to a 2025 Ipsos/MDVIP survey3. Many admit that clinical decisions are influenced by the clock, with 57% saying they often prescribe medications or refer patients to specialists sooner than they would like because there is no time to go deeper. As a result, care can feel transactional rather than relational, a shift that frustrates physicians and patients alike.
“In my old practice, time was so much less available,” says Karl Dannehl, MD, FACP, an Atlanta-based internist formerly employed by a large hospital system. “If you see 25 patients in a day, you just don’t have very much of it.”
Dannehl, who is affiliated with MDVIP, sees between eight and 10 patients a day now. “I can sit down and talk to our patients, ask about family.”
The lack of time has real consequences for patient care. When they do have time, doctors say they can focus on high-value activities: getting to the root cause of health issues, individualized coaching and practicing preventive care, according to the Ipsos/MDVIP survey.
Dannehl, for example, has time to really dig into prevention. Through the MDVIP Wellness Program, he can use testing not typically covered by insurance to help find cardiovascular disease risk earlier, and he has advanced tools to screen for other conditions that typical checkups might miss. He also has time to personalize a wellness plan for each patient.
For Rockville, MD family practitioner Alec Anders, MD, the bureaucracy and red tape was punishing: “It was a mountain of paperwork, a mountain of phone calls. Things had gotten so bad that it was either completely get out of healthcare or find an alternative way of practicing the way I think it should be done,” he says. Anders switched to MDVIP because it allowed him to claim his life back and stay in medicine.
Many report chronic sleep deprivation, missed exercise, poor nutrition and limited time with family and friends. The irony is not lost on physicians who spend their days counseling patients on healthy behaviors while lacking the time or energy to practice those behaviors themselves.
“When you are in the hamster wheel of corporate healthcare, there's a lot of politics and bureaucracy,” says Keisha Ellis, MD, an internist and endocrinologist in Alpharetta, GA. “I definitely experienced burnout. Now that I'm with MDVIP, I have the time to get to know my patients.”
Practice models play a meaningful role in how these pressures are experienced. Physicians caring for fewer patients each day report more time per visit, less stress and better work-life balance. They are also more likely to maintain healthy lifestyle habits themselves, reinforcing their credibility as role models for patients.
The core motivation that draws physicians to primary care remains strong. Most still say the ability to positively impact patients’ lives meets or exceeds their expectations. What has changed is the sustainability of the environment in which that work happens.
The message from physicians is clear: They want care models, policies and tools that restore time, reduce unnecessary burden and allow medicine to be practiced with intention again. The future of primary care depends not on asking physicians to endure more but on redesigning systems so they can thrive.
MDVIP offers one care model that helps primary care physicians achieve the balance they’re looking for, whether they’re employed or independent.
- Factors Associated with Well-Being and Burnout Among US Internal Medicine Physicians, BMJ Quality & Safety, September 2025
- Turnover and Burnout Among Family Physicians, JAMA Internal Medicine, March 2025
- Ipsos/MDVIP survey, January 2025