A CMA poll released this week reveals that  81 percent of physicians in California, if they had to “do it all over,” would still today choose the practice of medicine. Ninety-one percent of doctors agree, however, that the current health care system is unsustainable. Troubling for the future of patient care in our state, more than half of physicians report having considered leaving the state to practice elsewhere.

"We doctors love treating patients, and we love the practice of medicine, but there are many challenges today in just keeping a practice running,” says CMA President and Fremont gastroenterologist Anmol S. Mahal, M.D. “Doctors are very concerned about preserving their relationships with their patients, and we struggle to be able to spend enough time with them to give them adequate care and attention.”

These were some of the results of an online survey conducted in April among a representative sample of California doctors, both members and nonmembers.  The survey was conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates on behalf of CMA.

Click here to view the survey results.

Contact: Karen Nikos, 916/444-5532 or knikos@cmanet.org.