Medscape Physician Friendships Report 2026

Image:Physicians-and-Friendships-Report_1290x878px.pngThere's being married to the job. And there's being married married. For many physicians, however, working close friendships into their work-life-balance equation can be as beguiling as it is necessary."I think all humans seek connection, especially meaningful relationships where they can be themselves rather than thousands of acquaintances or situations where they need to be 'the doctor in the room,'" says Austin L. Chiang, MD, MPH, chief medical officer of Medtronic's global endoscopy business.We revisited Medscape's 2023 Medscape Physician Friendships Report with new findings from 1002 physicians across more than 29 specialties to learn more about how doctors are finding time for friends — if they're able to at all.In this report, gender is based on how respondents self-identified in our survey.Some totals do not equal 100% because of rounding.Image:Physicians-and-Friendships-Report_2.pngMore than half of surveyed physicians said it's difficult or very difficult to form friendships. That's a bit higher than the general population, with 34% of adults responding to a June 2026 YouGov survey on friendship and loneliness reporting the same.There's a generational split, too: Some 62% of doctors ages 45 and younger reported forming friendships as difficult or very difficult compared to 47% of doctors older than 45.That could be because younger doctors are more likely to acknowledge their own loneliness, Chiang says."They're also practicing in an era where digital communication has expanded professional networks but hasn't necessarily strengthened local, in-person relationships," says Chiang, who had used his own social media presence to engage physicians and the public. "You can feel connected online while still feeling socially isolated offline, and substituting in-person relationships with virtual connection may exacerbate a feeling of loneliness."Image:Physicians-and-Friendships-Report_3.pngNot only was time the biggest barrier to doctors maintaining friendships, but it also has inched up slightly as the top response from our 2023 survey (71%) and Medscape's 2022 Physician Friendship Report (67%).Compared to older generations, doctors ages 45 and younger were also much more likely to cite time, communication, and simply growing apart as significant challenges."Younger physicians are often in one of the busiest phases of life," Chiang says. "They're finishing training or establishing careers while simultaneously raising young families, paying off educational debt, and navigating major life transitions."Image:4R_physicians-and-friendships-report.pngA 2026 review of 80 studies found that our social networks look a lot like us, especially when it comes to having kids. Parents tend to lean on larger, family-centered networks, while nonparents may have more friends and more diverse ones, at that.The same was true among physicians, with nearly three quarters of survey respondents saying they agreed or slightly agreed that their friends are at a similar stage of life in terms of family composition and employment.Image:Physicians-and-Friendships-Report_5.pngThis year's results align closely with prior versions of this report. In 2023, 56% of physician respondents said that most of their friends had a similar financial status to them. And in 2022, 63% attributed their compatibility with friends to sharing a similar education or financial status.This isn't unique to doctors, and it's not necessarily engrained: One 2023 study in the journal Social Networks looked at how kids camps formed friendships and found that socioeconomic factors didn't play a huge role — but that these factors might once factors such as schools, neighborhoods, and other shared group contexts come into play.Image:Physicians-and-Friendships-Report_6.pngOpinions on politics and social issues can be divisive and unifying. When it comes to friendships, they can help folks click: 3 in 10 doctors in the 2023 version of this report, for example, attributed similar political and social views as a key factor in their compatibility with their friends.Image:Physicians-and-Friendships-Report_7.pngDoctors largely continue to set clear boundaries in their relationships with patients, with most reporting that they keep patients clear of even the "friend zone."Survey results, however, show that doctors older than 45 years were more than twice as likely to be friends with patients than those in younger age groups."I think this may also be related to the type of medical practice in which doctors work," says Yee To Ng, PhD, of the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research, who has published research on friendships and well-being. "Younger doctors may be more likely to work in corporate or larger healthcare systems, whereas older generations of doctors may be more likely to work in private practices within their local communities. These different work environments may shape how doctors build relationships and develop rapport with their patients."Image:Physicians-and-Friendships-Report_8.pngSharing tips about managing a lingering cough is different from resecting a tumor. But just as in our 2023 survey, the vast majority of doctors said that they've given a friend some form of medical advice. Sometimes, it's unavoidable.The American Medical Association does advise declining friends' requests for medical help politely and directing advice toward ways to find a more appropriate physician.Image:Physicians-and-Friendships-Report_9.pngAs noted earlier in this report, doctors' friendships often may fizzle out because of the time or energy it takes to maintain them — especially in light of job and family constraints. The flipside to this year's survey data is that 64% of doctors say that differing viewpoints, lifestyles, and parenting approaches have not resulted in them ending a friendship. That's roughly the same percentage as in 2023.Image:Physicians-and-Friendships-Report_10.pngThe sweet spot for doctors' "close" friendships rests somewhere between 1 and 5, just as it does for all adults in the YouGov survey (68%).Our findings didn't vary much between male and female doctors. But physicians ages 45 and younger were slightly more likely to report large friend groups of 16 or more than older doctors.Ng also points to research asserting that quality of friendships matters more than quantity."I think whether an individual desires friendships depends on their personality and personal preferences," she says.Image:Physicians-and-Friendships-Report_11.pngDoctors ages 45 and younger were more likely than those in older age groups to maintain close friendships with people from their schooling.As physicians advanced in their career, they were more likely to report close friendships from other sources. These included church, their neighborhood, fellow parents, and hobbies such as golfing and running.Image:Physicians-and-Friendships-Report_12.pngDoctors were clear: Family (and work) comes first.Asked why friendships didn't reach the same priority, survey responses varied from being "stuck in a work rut" to being too tired after a shift to go out with friends."The field also tends to normalize and reward self-sacrifice and other maladaptive behaviors," Chiang says. "Friendships become the easiest commitment to postpone because they often don't have deadlines or immediate consequences."Sometimes I've fallen into the idea that my work colleagues are also friends when in fact I may have needed to reorient my life to include perspectives from outside of medicine."Image:Physicians-and-Friendships-Report_13.pngImage:Physicians-and-Friendships-Report_14.pngThese results are largely consistent with those from 2023 and 2022, with a large majority of respondents also saying that opposite-sex friendships don't interfere or cause issues with their spouses or romantic partners.Those who did cite issues often referred to jealousy or incompatibility as the reasons why."I now set boundaries, and all relationships with people of opposite sex is in context with my spouse: no dinners or outings with friends of opposite sex without my spouse and them with a plus one," one male oncologist said.Image:Physicians-and-Friendships-Report_15.pngAs in 2023 and 2022, most doctors say they have no issues with their friends and partners staying in their respective lanes.When those issues do occur, they may require extra work on all sides to smooth things out."Inappropriate comments were made, and the conflict was then resolved after a long conversation," a male internist from Florida said."I had to tell my husband to remember his boundaries, especially because this friend was going through a difficult divorce and was leaning on my husband for emotional support," a female ob/gyn from New York told us.Image:Physicians-and-Friendships-Report_16.pngImage:Physicians-and-Friendships-Report_17.pngRelated Content on MedscapeYou're Not Alone: Medscape Physician Burnout and Depression Report 2026How Doctors Are Really Doing: Physician Mental Health and Well-Being Report 2026The State of Patient Care: Medscape Patient Relationships Index Report 2026