Physicians who completed residency or fellowship in the past six years spent less than two years on average in their first jobs before leaving, compared to practicing physicians of all ages who spent an average of six years at their first jobs, according to a report by Jackson Physician Search and Medical Group Management Association.

The top factors physicians cited for leaving their first jobs were practice ownership and governance models, cited by 35%, followed by compensation and geographic preference, cited by 30%.

“Considering the time required for new physicians to reach full productivity is between one and two years, medical groups face potential financial losses when physicians leave at or before the two-year mark,” Tony Stajduhar, president of Jackson Physician Search, said in a press statement.

The report also found that the top driving factors new physicians look for in their first job post-residency and fellowship include higher compensation, 50%; geographic preference, 37%; and proximity to family, 28%. Career track and advancement and ability to work part-time or flexible hours were also cited by 24% and 22% of physicians, respectively.

“Medical practices are already navigating a period of painful, inflation-bloated expenses and rising compensation for all levels of staff,” MGMA CEO Halee Fischer-Wright said. “With the costs of replacing a physician in a competitive market for clinician talent being as high as they have been in years, understanding the factors that influence retention merit equal consideration to those that influence signing a new physician.”

The survey was conducted among medical group administrators and physicians in August and September.