--- title: "The Doctors Paradox: When Healers Need Help" description: "Dr Abeyna Bubbers-Jones founded Medic Footprints to address a crisis most people don’t see: doctors who care for others but can’t access care themselves. With physician burnout affecting nearly half the medical workforce, thousands are leaving the profession each year. Bubbers-Jones is building solutions for an epidemic the healthcare system would rather ignore." author: Dr Marina Nani (Editor-in-Chief) date: 2018-10-13T09:26:02.000Z updated: 2026-02-26T18:39:16.774Z canonical: https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/the-doctors-paradox-when-healers-need-help image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/DSC01051-scaled-1-2048x1152-1.jpg categories: CEO Profiles, Social Impact content_type: Profile region: Global publication: Sovereign Magazine --- Dr Abeyna Bubbers-Jones founded [Medic Footprints](https://medicfootprints.org/), now a global platform connecting doctors with careers beyond clinical practice. An occupational health physician by training, she recognised a problem most people outside medicine never see: doctors who spend their lives caring for others often can’t access care themselves. ‘Doctors are one of the highest risk professional groups for stress. The failing mental health of our medical profession is a significant public health problem and a worldwide epidemic. At least one in four doctors experience a [mental health concern](https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/shaping-the-strategic-direction-of-mental-health) during their careers. The doctor paradox refers to medics who are able to provide care for others, however fail to access or even seek the care they need for themselves when they’re unwell.’ Recent data shows [physician burnout rates have dropped to around 45-49%](https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/physician-health/physician-burnout-rate-drops-below-50-first-time-4-years) in 2024, down from pandemic highs of 63% in 2021. That sounds like progress until you realise nearly half the medical workforce still reports being burnt out. Doctors remain 82% more likely to experience burnout than other US workers. The numbers explain why thousands leave medicine each year. Official records confirm this affects millions of healthcare professionals worldwide. What makes it worse is that many don’t recognise the problem exists until they’re in crisis. In one survey, nearly half of doctors said their employers weren’t even aware of burnout issues. Bubbers-Jones started Medic Footprints in 2014 after her own path through medicine took unexpected turns. She trained as a trauma surgeon in Africa, switched to occupational medicine and moved between countries trying to find where she fit. She realised her experience wasn’t unique. The topics just remained taboo. Eight years later, the organisation has 16,000 doctors on its newsletter list. That community has since grown to over 120,000. What began as a support network addressing mental health has become something broader: helping doctors find career paths that don’t destroy them. ‘We want doctors to feel happy and supported in what they do. In doing so, we ensure better healthcare for everyone. Despite all our incredible efforts so far, we have realised we can’t do this alone. The mental health of our medical profession is failing – and is a worldwide epidemic. At least one in four doctors experience a [mental health concern](https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/shaping-the-strategic-direction-of-mental-health) during their careers, and they are at increased risk of stress compared to the average worker.’ When Medic Footprints launched its crowdfunding campaign in 2018, the team had 30 days to raise £40,000 for the world’s first digital platform specifically designed for doctors. The all-or-nothing structure added pressure, but it reflected the stakes. Either the medical community would support addressing its own crisis, or it wouldn’t. ‘Thousands of doctors are leaving the profession every year – many of whom are suffering from mental health problems relating to significant stressors in the workplace. As victims of the doctor paradox, many of whom are unable to identify safe and non-judgemental spaces to receive help and many fail to identify that a problem even exists.’ The primary contributor to burnout remains what it’s always been: bureaucratic tasks take up more time than patient care. Doctors cite administrative burden (62%), excessive work hours (41%) and lack of respect from administrators (40%) as the main factors. Female physicians face 27% higher burnout risk than their male colleagues. [Emergency medicine leads with 63% reporting burnout](https://medschoolinsiders.com/medical-student/doctor-specialties-with-the-most-burnout/), followed by obstetrics/gynaecology and oncology at 53%. The solutions doctors want aren’t complex. Higher pay, more support staff and flexible schedules top the list. Yet half of doctors looking for other opportunities are doing so because they’re burnt out, stressed or lacking autonomy. ‘Well-being is at the core of what we do at Medic Footprints, as an essential component of the alternative careers journey. Most doctors who are seeking change will fail to do so successfully if they are experiencing significant mental health issues – and in reality, most in career turmoil are, without even realising it.’ As Bubbers-Jones points out, most doctors aren’t even on LinkedIn, where recruiters look for talent. They congregate in private Facebook groups with tens of thousands of members, sharing frustrations and looking for exits. A recent US study found one in five doctors plans to [leave healthcare within five years](https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/global-health-delivered-by-women-and-led-by-men-for-the-next-200-years). The paradox persists because the system depends on it. Healthcare runs on doctors who sacrifice their own health to maintain everyone else’s. Until that changes, platforms like Medic Footprints remain necessary – helping highly trained professionals find ways to use their skills without destroying themselves in the process.