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Is medicine still a calling? Physicians weigh purpose against burnout

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Key Takeaways

  • Medicine is still considered a calling, requiring intentional organizational support to sustain this perspective among clinicians.
  • Effective hiring practices, onboarding, communication, and mentorship are crucial for helping clinicians reconnect with their purpose.
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At MGMA Leaders Conference 2025, panelists explored whether physicians still see medicine as a vocation — and how culture shapes retention, engagement and satisfaction.

On Tuesday afternoon at the MGMA Leaders Conference 2025 in Orlando, Florida, an expert panel, moderated by Shane Jackson, MBA, president of Jackson Healthcare, wrestled with deceptively simple question: Is medicine still a calling? The question was first posed in a joint report published by the two organizations earlier this year.

The panel was comprised of Tony Stajduhar, president of Jackson Physician Search, Miechia A. Esco, M.D., Ph.D., MBA, RPVI, FACS, a board-certified locum tenens vascular surgeon and chief medical resource officer at LocumTenens.com, and Chris Franklin, president of LocumTenens.com.

Ultimately, the panel agreed that medicine is still a calling — but one that requires intentional support from organizations.

Leaders can help clinicians reconnect to purpose through hiring practices, onboarding, honest communication, mentorship and culture that values people as much as productivity.

As Esco put it: "There's no winning in medicine. It's an infinite process, so you have to really reframe what success is — and it's beyond the metrics."

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