Doximity polls in 2026 and 2023 asked clinicians how many vacation days they took in the last year. In 2026, more than a quarter of clinicians (26%) took more than four weeks off, compared with 18% in 2023.
Why it matters: Taking time off is linked to lower odds of burnout, though it doesn’t address the root causes. Even so, how clinicians take time off offers a useful window into how their work and lives fit together across specialties.
By the numbers: In two specialties, a majority of clinicians took more than four weeks off in 2026:
Radiology: 70%
Anesthesiology: 58%
Flashback: This aligns with recent research. In a 2024 study published in JAMA Network Open of physicians surveyed between 2020 and 2021, anesthesiologists (76%) and radiologists (75%) had the highest shares taking more than three weeks of vacation.
Between the lines: Younger anesthesiologists drove much of their specialty’s gain in the poll. Among anesthesiologists under 45, the share taking more than four weeks off more than doubled, from 31% in 2023 to 69% in 2026.
Of note: In a 2024 national survey of more than 2,200 members of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, flexible leave policies ranked among the most common answers to what would improve their work lives.
Zoom in: Three specialties saw the number of clinicians taking more than four weeks off rise between 2023 and 2026:
Anesthesiology: Increased from 42% in 2023 to 58% in 2026
Family medicine: Increased from 13% in 2023 to 28% in 2026
Emergency medicine: Increased from 19% in 2023 to 29% in 2026
Going deeper: Family medicine’s gain stands out. A 2024 study also found family medicine to have one of the lowest shares of physicians taking three or more weeks of vacation (34%). However, that pattern may be shifting across medicine. A 2025 analysis found that physicians are taking more time off and spending a greater portion of it away from their work.
Emergency medicine is catching up: often called medicine’s burnout specialty, it saw some of the largest gains in days off.
The context: Emergency medicine’s gains in time off come as the specialty continues to report the highest burnout in medicine, at 50% in 2025. In a 2026 study of emergency physicians who had considered leaving or had left the field, the authors noted that while rest may ease some burnout symptoms, participants also named improved staffing and career flexibility as ways to keep physicians in the specialty.
Worth noting: Psychiatrists also took more time off in 2026. Fewer clinicians in the specialty took short breaks, and more took longer ones.
Two weeks or less: Reduced from 47% in 2023 to 37% in 2026
More than four weeks: Increased from 14% in 2023 to 22% in 2026
Clinicians chime in: While vacation should theoretically help clinicians disconnect from work, commentary on the poll itself suggests that isn’t always that easy:
Nowadays, the real question is how many hours you can go without checking Haiku if you’re on Epic, or even just checking for messages from your staff.
Never enough. But emails and Epic messages never stop, and trying to catch up after time off (even if you're just checking email and Epic) makes the post-vacation joy fade quickly.
When in the clinic in between patients, I am praying for vacay. But after 2-3 days off, I find myself wishing to return to my patients and the hustle and bustle of the clinic.
The research: A 2024 JAMA study found that about 70% of physicians did patient-related work while on vacation. The number of vacation days taken and full EHR inbox coverage while away were linked to lower odds of burnout, while working 30 minutes or more on a typical vacation day was linked to higher burnout. Yet only about half of physicians have full EHR coverage, according to the AMA.
Bottom line: Clinicians are taking more time off than they did in 2023, though the number of days off is not uniform across specialties. Radiology and anesthesiology are the only specialties where many clinicians take more than a month off. Vacation days are great, but more needs to be done, like EHR coverage, to ensure physicians can fully unplug and recharge when they do take vacation time
Methodology:
Doximity polls of U.S. clinicians were fielded in September 2023 (n=5,839) and September 2026 (n=2,540).
*Specialty figures include all clinicians who reported practicing in a specialty, including MDs, DOs, NPs, and PAs. Only specialties with at least 100 respondents in a given year are included, and year-over-year comparisons are reported only for specialties that met that threshold in both years. All reported changes between 2023 and 2026 are statistically significant. Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.
