New Research Asks and Answers the Question: How Do Medical Practices Retain Early-Career Physicians?

New National Report Finds Loyalty is Earned Months Before Start Dates When Pre-Boarding and Relationship-Building are Prioritized

ALPHARETTA, Ga. and ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 29, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- A new national report from Jackson Physician Search and Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) reveals that medical practices are losing physicians early in their careers due to gaps in onboarding and culture, despite competitive compensation. Full details are revealed in the report, From Contract to Connection: How Authentic Relationships Foster Early-Career Physician Loyalty and Retention, released today during MGMA's annual Leaders Conference in Orlando.

The survey of 525 respondents (284 physicians and 241 administrators) found that most physicians leave their first jobs within three years, while 69% of administrators say it's typical for new hires to stay six or more years. That expectation gap, combined with weak pre-start communication and limited cultural connection between contract signing and start date, is driving costly turnover and recruitment expenses.

"Compensation may win attention, but culture earns loyalty. What matters most to young physicians is whether leaders listen, communicate and make practice sustainable," said Tony Stajduhar, president of Jackson Physician Search. 

Why Early-Career Physicians Leave—and How Practices Can Build Loyalty

Key findings in theFrom Contract to Connection: How Authentic Relationships Foster Early-Career Physician Loyalty and Retentionstudy include:

• Relationships anchor loyalty: Physicians most value relationships with peers (68%), support staff (54%) and physician leaders (48%). Administrators, by contrast, placed more weight on ties with administrative leaders.

• Culture drives connection: Top factors were team collaboration (53%), physician voice in leadership (53%), work-life balance (48%) and clear communication (48%). Administrators significantly overestimated the importance of work-life balance (81%).

• Pre-boarding matters: Weekly communication before day one led to higher satisfaction, stronger cultural alignment and greater preparedness.

• Pay is table stakes: Two-thirds said a higher base salary would influence staying, but leadership and culture were the leading reasons for leaving.

"Today's early-career physicians—those out of training fewer than four years—are the canaries in the coal mine, as nearly half report they anticipated leaving their first role within the first year," added Stajduhar. "Our work as recruiters, and the work of practice leaders, is to ensure we're making a match based on values, expectations and the realities of a role—not just handing out signing bonuses and promising to pay off student loans. Transactional exchanges don't create a long-term relationship—loyalty instead begins with pre-boarding and continues throughout employment."

A Loyalty Playbook for Leaders
The report also offers a "Loyalty Formula" built on three pillars: respect and communication, fair policies and workload, and compensation with clarity.

"This playbook turns data into daily practice," said Halee Fischer-Wright, MD, MMM, FAAP, FACMPE, CEO of MGMA. "Replacing an early-career physician can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and months of lost access for patients. Leaders can't afford to ignore the non-compensation factors that drive loyalty. When organizations take ownership of the pre-boarding period and build authentic connections, loyalty increases."

To learn more about this research, the full report is available for download here.

About Jackson Physician Search
Jackson Physician Search is an established industry leader in physician recruitment and pioneered the recruitment methodologies standard in the industry today. The firm specializes in the permanent recruitment of physicians, physician executives and advanced practice providers for hospitals, health systems, academic medical centers and medical groups across the United States. Headquartered in Alpharetta, Ga., the company is recognized for its track record of results built on client trust and transparency of processes and fees. Jackson Physician Search is part of the Jackson Healthcare^® family of companies. For more information, visit www.jacksonphysiciansearch.com.

About MGMA
Founded in 1926, the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) is the nation's largest association focused on the business of medical practice management. MGMA consists of 15,000 group medical practices ranging from small private medical practices to large national health systems representing more than 350,000 physicians. MGMA helps nearly 60,000 medical practice leaders and the healthcare community solve the business challenges of running practices so that they can focus on providing outstanding patient care. Specifically, MGMA helps its members innovate and improve profitability and financial sustainability, and it provides the gold standard on industry benchmarks such as physician compensation. The association also advocates extensively on its members' behalf on national regulatory and policy issues. For more information, visit www.mgma.com.

For More Information, Contact:
Kristen Myers for Jackson Physician Search
kmyers@jacksonphysiciansearch.com

Kathy Michel for MGMA
kmichel@mgma.com

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SOURCE Jackson Physician Search