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COVID-19 Impacts on Physician Contracts

by Kurt Ullman •

Kurt Ullman is a freelance medical writer based in Indiana.

COVID-Related Drops in Income and Career Satisfaction

Medscape surveyed physicians across seven countries about how COVID-19
has impacted their career, from both monetary and personal standpoints. Among the findings:

  • Sixty-two percent of U.S. physicians saw their income drop, while 35% stayed the same. This finding was worse than in most European countries: 41% of doctors in France saw cuts in pay, while 43% stayed the same, and 42% of German physicians made less money, while 53% stayed the same. Of all countries surveyed, only physicians in Brazil did worse than those in the U.S., with 83% seeing reductions in their pay.
  • In the U.S., pay cuts varied. One in three physicians saw their income drop by 11% to 28%. Nine percent were paid 76% to 100% less under COVID-19 conditions.
  • When U.S. doctors were asked about how COVID-19 experiences had impacted their career plans, just over half (51%) said it would have no effect. However, 25% said it made them at least consider earlier retirement; 12% of these respondents were deciding if they were going to leave direct patient care, and 12% were considering leaving medicine entirely.

Source: Kane A. Medscape US and International Physicians’ COVID-19 Experience Report: Risk, Burnout, Loneliness. 2021 Accessed March 8, 2021.