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April 26, 2024By Physicians for a Healthy California Female Physicians of Color

On Monday, April 22, The Sacramento Bee published an exclusive on Physicians for a Healthy California’s (PHC) most recent report that seeks to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic, changes in the health care system and societal issues have impacted moral injury and burnout in women physician of color. PHC, in partnership with The Physicians Foundation, developed "A Prescription for Change: Addressing Retention Among Women Physicians of Color in California” to provide health care organizations with actionable recommendations to improve retention of women physicians of color. It was undertaken to explore if the COVID-19 pandemic played a role in burnout rates for women physicians of color and how it contributed to their overall career satisfaction.  

The report builds on findings from PHC’s 2018 “Well-Being of Women Physicians of Color” report. The focus of that report was to analyze the effects of burnout, career satisfaction and mental health and their links with work and family characteristics.

The most recent study surveyed over 1,000 women physicians of color practicing in California, with 20 physicians in various regions invited to focus groups to shed light on the pandemic’s impact on work and home experiences as related to personal well-being. Other themes explored were the impact of general work and home experiences and feelings, attitudes and impact on mental health outcomes.

The findings from this research have led to a variety of recommendations for health care institutions to help their organizations take active steps to retain women physicians of color and understand their unique circumstances. The recommendations include a call for a much-needed commitment and acknowledgment on how health care organizational policies impact attrition rates. We hope that this research will continue to improve outcomes for women physicians of color.

View the full report here.