Sabbaticals Provide a Critical Lifeline for Sustainable Medical Careers [PODCAST]

Why It Matters

Enabling physician sabbaticals can curb burnout, improve retention, and lower costly turnover in a tightening healthcare labor market.

Key Takeaways

• Sabbaticals rarely authorized in academic medicine
• Only 51% schools report any faculty sabbaticals
• Lack of breaks fuels physician burnout and turnover
• Financial planning essential for self‑funded sabbaticals
• Re‑entry strategy mitigates career disruption

Pulse Analysis

The healthcare industry faces a mounting physician burnout crisis, with surveys linking chronic stress to reduced quality of care and early departure from practice. While popular culture, such as the TV drama *The Pitt*, now depicts doctors taking three‑month sabbaticals, the reality remains that most clinicians lack institutional pathways for extended leave. This cultural shift signals a growing recognition that continuous, high‑intensity work without restorative periods is unsustainable for both providers and health systems.

Data from a 2021 American Journal of Medicine study underscores the scarcity of formal sabbaticals: just over half of medical schools reported any faculty taking such leave, and those who did were predominantly senior researchers, not frontline clinicians. The barriers are financial, logistical, and cultural—most institutions view sabbaticals as a privilege rather than a retention tool. Mulholland’s case shows how physicians can overcome these obstacles by creating a personal sabbatical fund, defining clear objectives, and negotiating flexible employment terms, turning a perceived career risk into a strategic investment in personal well‑being.

From a business perspective, supporting physician sabbaticals could yield significant cost savings. Replacing a physician involves recruitment, onboarding, and lost productivity, often exceeding the expense of a temporary leave. Institutions that formalize sabbatical policies may see lower turnover, higher morale, and improved patient outcomes. Healthcare leaders should therefore consider integrating structured sabbatical programs, offering financial assistance, and establishing re‑entry pathways to sustain a resilient, high‑performing medical workforce.

Sabbaticals provide a critical lifeline for sustainable medical careers [PODCAST]

Why Every Physician Needs a Sabbatical (and How to Take One) · Podcast Transcript · Hosted by Kevin Pho

Kevin Pho: Hi, and welcome to the show. Subscribe at KevinMD.com/podcast. Today we welcome back Christie Mulholland, palliative‑care physician and certified physician‑development coach. Today’s KevinMD article is “Why every physician needs a sabbatical and how to take one.” Christie, welcome back to the show.

Christie Mulholland: Thanks for having me back.

Kevin Pho: All right, so tell us what led you to write about this particular article, and then tell us about the article itself.

Christie Mulholland: Well, Kevin, have you been watching The Pitt on HBO Max?

Kevin Pho: I would love to. I have heard only great things about it, but actually don’t subscribe to HBO Max.

Christie Mulholland: Oh, well if you ever do, I highly recommend binging it. Health‑care workers love The Pitt. I think when we watch it, we recognize ourselves in the characters. We feel seen and we recognize the situations that they are dealing with in this emergency department where all of the societal problems come through the doors of this ER.

So when I saw that the beginning of season two of The Pitt opens up with the main character, Noah Wyle’s character Dr. Robby, being there for his last shift before he leaves for a three‑month sabbatical, I was really excited. It tells me something about the cultural conversation that is happening right now among our medical world. Season one of The Pitt was really a lot about how resilient these doctors were and how they always found a way to take care of their patients no matter the obstacles. Some of them were even doing that until they broke or broke down, including Dr. Robby. He did have a little bit of a breakdown at the end of season one. So when I saw that he had made this decision to take some time off, it tells me that this is a conversation that perhaps we are a little more open to.

Kevin Pho: So how common is it for practicing physicians to take sabbaticals?

Christie Mulholland: It is pretty rare to think of a physician that actually takes the standard sabbatical. This is what you think of where the medical‑school dean authorizes three months or six months or a whole year to go away and then just come back to your job. This is something that I think seems to be a standard across academic medicine where there might be a sabbatical policy on paper somewhere. But in practice, it is very rarely authorized and it is rarely used.

Actually, there is a survey from the American Journal of Medicine (2021). They interviewed associate deans at a bunch of medical schools, and I think they talked to a thousand‑physician sample. Only 51 percent of those medical schools had any faculty at all that took a sabbatical. Among the schools that did have faculty taking a sabbatical, the median number was three faculty. Who were these physicians? They actually tended to be more senior white‑male PhD researchers rather than medical doctors doing clinical work. So it is quite rare. I will say, though, that I do think there are a lot of doctors that find a way to take some time off—perhaps by leaving one job and then waiting a little while until starting the next job. But the official, authorized sabbatical is quite rare.

Kevin Pho: So my impression of a sabbatical was that someone would take one in order to do a research project and something like that. From a clinical standpoint, what are some reasons why clinical physicians may take sabbaticals?

Christie Mulholland: Yeah, usually it is something like that. It is to go and do some specialized research in a lab and come back with a product that is of benefit to the medical school. That is the most common reason. I think some of the personal reasons why physicians might step away or sort of create their own sabbatical are perhaps to consider making some kind of career pivot, maybe they are interested in going into private practice, or maybe it is just to take some personal time to attend to family situations at home—an illness or caregiving responsibilities.

Kevin Pho: In your KevinMD article, you talk about your own experience requesting a sabbatical. So tell us about that.

Christie Mulholland: About a year ago I had reached a point in my career where I was performing well. I was hitting all of my metrics. At the same time, I was getting a little crispy around the edges. I felt pretty irritable and disillusioned with some of the circumstances I would see every day at work. It was to a point where other people around me were starting to notice. I really felt that I could use a break to just re‑energize and recharge.

When I asked for a sabbatical, it wasn’t approved. They were kind of like, “Come back in 10 years when you’re a full professor and then we can talk.” So it was a snarky comment—maybe not phrased that way, but that’s how I took it. The response was basically, “This isn’t a thing that is done.” That was data for me. But I didn’t stop there. I didn’t let the conversation end there. I decided that this was an important thing for me to do, so I continued working to find a way to make it happen for myself.

Kevin Pho: What kind of things did you do to try and achieve that sabbatical?

Christie Mulholland: Some things were easy and some things were really hard. There were big trade‑offs that I needed to make. The first part was getting clear on which trade‑offs I was willing to make for myself and my own life. The biggest one was that I actually needed to resign my full‑time position in order to step away for three months and then come back to the same institution where I now work part‑time.

Finding allies at my institution who were willing to make that work, to go outside the box and come up with this arrangement, required a lot of intentional work. It isn’t a standard arrangement that a lot of people have. It involved finding some areas of common ground where I could provide value to my employer and an arrangement that everyone could live with.

Kevin Pho: What does that say about our current medical culture, the fact that you really had to go through a lot of obstacles and friction to get the sabbatical you wanted?

Christie Mulholland: It says that there is a mentality that you are either “all in” medicine or you’re out, and that anything less is not serious. That’s shortsighted. In the long term, if health care can find a way to let high‑performing physicians take a break when they need one and then come back, it saves a lot of hassle and expense. If a doctor can’t get a sabbatical where they work, they may leave and go somewhere else, which forces the institution to recruit, onboard, and train a new physician—an expensive process.

Kevin Pho: If a clinical physician is listening today and thinking of maybe taking a sabbatical, a break, or a leave of absence, what are some things they need to think about before proceeding?

Christie Mulholland: I would invite everyone to read the article for a detailed breakdown, but here’s an overview of the four main steps any physician can take.

1. Financial planning. You need a runway to afford the sabbatical. Start early—open a savings account called “Sabbatical Fund” and contribute regularly (e.g., $10 a day for a junior doctor, increasing as you earn more).

2. Design your sabbatical. Give it purpose. Without clear “North Stars,” you risk a vague, anxious vacation. My three North Stars were:

   • Family (I got married and became a dog mom).

   • Nature (a month in the Catskills cabin).

   • Launching my coaching business.

3. Re‑entry plan. Decide how you’ll return to work and earn income. Can you go back to the same employer? If not, start networking and looking for the next job well before your sabbatical ends.

4. Support system. Going rogue can be vulnerable. Talk to family, find other doctors who have taken time off, or connect with professional communities that value sabbaticals. “Mini‑retirements” is another term; the podcast Retire Often discusses many guests’ sabbatical experiences.

Kevin Pho: Reflecting on your own sabbatical, it sounds like there wasn’t a lot of institutional support at first. Tell us about the support system you had.

Christie Mulholland: Initially there was a lot of friction, as you said. As time went on and people saw I was serious about making it happen, their positions shifted and they became more supportive.

My family was crucial. My husband had only known me as a palliative‑care doctor at a prestigious institution, so I worried he might see me differently. He reassured me that he was more afraid of me staying unhappy than of me taking a career risk. Sharing my plans with friends and colleagues in medicine also helped; their belief grew as they saw my commitment.

Kevin Pho: Should physicians worry that if they take time off they’ll be replaced?

Christie Mulholland: It’s a legitimate worry and a difficult trade‑off. But if you work somewhere that sees you as easily replaceable, ask yourself whether that environment is right for a long‑term career. We need doctors, and there’s a looming shortage.

Interrogate the fear that you’ll never find another job. In coaching, we call limiting beliefs—false, often negative stories we tell ourselves—that hold us back. Examples: “I will destroy my career if I take a sabbatical,” or “I can’t afford a sabbatical.” Working with a coach, mentor, or therapist can help you examine and challenge those stories.

Kevin Pho: Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently?

Christie Mulholland: I wish I had taken the sabbatical sooner—before I got “crispy” and irritable. Planning it earlier would have allowed me to have harder conversations at work more gracefully and present the break as a positive, proactive step rather than a reaction to a crisis.

Kevin Pho: We’ll end with take‑home messages for the KevinMD audience.

Christie Mulholland: If you’re even thinking about a sabbatical but think it’s impossible, do some deep reflection. Are you limiting yourself? Sabbaticals aren’t a standard part of the medical system yet, but you have more power than you think to plan your own. You don’t need anyone else’s permission to take care of yourself.

Kevin Pho: Christie, thank you so much for sharing your story, time, and insight.

Christie Mulholland: Thanks. It was a pleasure being here.