Why Are Gen X Doctors Leaving medicine?

I created an encore career because I was in a place where I felt my energy was being wasted. Having practiced palliative care for a long time, I understood only too well how short life is and in my later 40s, with caring responsibilities, I had to acknowledge that my energy is precious too.

Generation X doctors like me - born between 1985 and 1980 - are the group most likely to leave the profession. We are at the peak of our medical careers, yet many of us are seriously considering early retirement (BMA, 2023). Recent data paints a stark picture: half of GPs in the UK intend to retire before age 60 (Pulse, 2022). In Scotland, nearly half of senior hospital doctors over 50 plan to do the same (University of Dundee, 2023).

We don't so much run away from medicine as move toward a more balanced, values-aligned version of it.

Gen X doctors are situated at the confluence of health system, demographic and personal challenges that explain why more and more of us are taking early retirement.

Health system reasons are consistent and well-documented: burnout, relentless workloads, feeling undervalued, and complex financial trade-offs. The pressures of sustaining high-intensity clinical roles, coupled with years of systemic strain in the NHS, have left many doctors feeling that the cost of staying outweighs the rewards. But we also face specific demographic factors that pose career challenges.

• Marriage and family life: The majority of Gen X doctors are married, around one in five is to another doctor(AMA, 2021). Dual-doctor households often have to navigate complex questions around timing retirement, balancing workloads, and managing shared financial goals.

• Parenthood later in life: The data shows that Gen X doctors tended to delay starting a family due to the demands of medical training and career progression. This means that their offspring are still dependent or transitioning to university students at the same time as they begin to shoulder caring responsibilities for aging parents(IFS, 2023).

• Caring responsibilities: Roughly 20–25% of people aged 45 to 60 provide care for older relatives or spouses (Age UK, 2024). For doctors, these pressures sit on top of an already demanding professional life.

Despite all this, very few Gen X doctors simply walk away from medicine. We don't so much run away from medicine as move toward a more balanced, values-aligned version of it. This is the encore career you may be searching for.