primary care physician
I have been working at an outpatient facility for about a year. I currently see approximately 26–28 patients per day, especially when most of the visits are follow-ups, and I work five days a week.
I receive very limited support with inbox management, forms, and other administrative responsibilities. The MA will sometimes help when I specifically ask, but if I ask them to take on tasks beyond what they normally do, they are often reluctant.
There are also significant limitations with the clinic’s resources. We do not have a consistently functioning EKG machine—it works intermittently. Despite repeatedly requesting them, we still do not have basic point-of-care testing such as strep, influenza, or COVID testing in the office. Many of my requests for resources or workflow improvements have been rejected.
Another major issue is scheduling. Post-ER follow-up visits are supposed to be scheduled for 30 minutes, but they are frequently changed to 15-minute appointments without my permission. When I ask why the appointment was shortened, I am told that the patient did not inform the scheduling staff that they were coming for a post-ER follow-up visit.
The referral process is also very slow, and there are frequent mistakes with referrals, which creates additional work and frustration for both me and the patients.
A significant number of my patients also have requests related to controlled substances or disability documentation. When I do not agree with their requests, some patients repeatedly argue with me or contact administration to complain.
This is my first job after residency, so I am not sure how much of this is normal for outpatient primary care versus being specific to this particular practice. I have been feeling increasingly frustrated and overwhelmed by the workload, lack of support, inadequate resources, and administrative issues.
I am seriously considering leaving this position and potentially switching to hospital medicine. I would appreciate some perspective on whether these issues are typical of outpatient practice or whether this may simply be a poorly structured practice environment.