It’s no secret that life as a doctor is hard and tiresome. The sheer pressure of responsibility is enough to wear anyone out. Most are aware of the up-coming exhaustion since med school, others foolishly believe that the sleepless nights will end come residency. Some, however, are overwhelmed by inhuman work hours, which have nothing to do with their expectations and exceed the legal limits.

In the United States, it seems that the majority of primary care doctors feel overworked. As a result, more than half of them plan to either quit their job or at least cut back on their hours. To make matters worse, it seems that over 60% of them would not recommend a career in medicine to young, eager minds.

The survey from which these conclusions were drawn was conducted by the Physician’s Foundation. The survey is yet another piece of evidence that there is a shortage of internal medicine doctors and family practice doctors. However, there is an abundance of specialists.

Fortunately for the doctors and the health state of the entire nation, reforming the health care system is a top priority for Barack Obama, the president-elect, but also for Congress. In a nutshell, doctors want fewer work hours and a reformed system when it comes to Medicare and Medicaid. Also, many complain that handling paperwork and bureaucracy cuts into the clinical duty.

11 to 13% of the doctors who answered the survey claim that they are planning to either quit or move to a medical-related domain that does not involve patient care. About as many doctors claimed that they will be opting for a part-time program. More than two thirds have state that they feel overworked.