CHICAGO -- New data from the American Medical Association (AMA) show physician burnout continuing to decline nationwide, but significant differences across medical specialties underscore the need for more targeted solutions within health systems.

In 2025, 41.9 percent of physicians reported experiencing at least one symptom of burnout – down from 43.2 percent in 2024 and 48.2 percent in 2023 - reflecting steady progress in physician well-being also found in peer-reviewed research. However, AMA-exclusive data reveal that the burden of burnout is not shared equally by physicians across medicine.

According to AMA data, the highest burnout rates were reported in emergency medicine (49.8 percent), urological surgery (49.5 percent), hematology/oncology (49.3 percent), obstetrics and gynecology (45.7 percent), radiology (45.2 percent), family medicine (45 percent), general surgery (43.8 percent), cardiology (43.5 percent) and gastroenterology (43.5 percent). In contrast, infectious diseases (23.3 percent), nephrology (29.3 percent), dermatology (31.5 percent), psychiatry (31.6 percent), and anesthesiology (39.2 percent) reported the lowest levels.

While four of the five indicators improved significantly from 2024 to 2025, variation by specialty remains pronounced. Hospital-based specialties - including emergency medicine, radiology and anesthesiology - performed worse than the overall benchmark on three of five measures, suggesting persistent operational and workflow challenges.

Physicians reported feeling valued by their organization (great or moderate extent) at 56.2 percent representing an increase of 1.7 percent from 2024. There continues to be variation on physician feeling valued by gender (female respondents at 53.3 percent and male respondents at 59.6 percent), by years in practice (physicians 1-5 years in practice reporting at 57.9 percent and physicians post 20 years at 59.4 percent) and by specialty.

“These data make clear that improving physician well-being isn’t one-size-fits-all – it requires targeted, specialty-specific strategies,” said Dr. Mukkamala. “By reducing administrative burden and advancing evidence-based solutions, we can help physicians rediscover the joy in medicine while building more sustainable practice environments. The AMA urges health system leaders to use these insights to benchmark performance and accelerate efforts to address the unique drivers of burnout across specialties.”

The AMA can help health systems tailor solutions to the unique drivers of burnout across specialties and maximize support for care teams with cutting-edge tools, information and resources. Through its Well-being Toolkit, health systems can learn how organizations are partnering with the AMA, explore proven strategies to reduce burnout and enhance physician well-being, and calculate the cost of physician burnout to their organization.