Stress fractures in emergency departments

June 3, 2026 — 5:00am

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Australia’s emergency departments have become so overcrowded and chaotic that stress and burnout are pushing increasing numbers of doctors to consider abandoning the speciality, which threatens to exacerbate an existing crisis.

A new report from the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine (ACEM) revealed close to two in five emergency doctors plan to leave the profession in the next decade. Even when physicians close to retirement are excluded, one in five respondents aged under 50 still said they were “likely” or “very likely” to quit – a rate that has doubled in less than 10 years.

Most cited unsustainable workplace conditions as a reason for wanting to quit. In addition, almost three in four emergency physicians planned to........

© The Sydney Morning Herald