2026 is reshaping career opportunities for physicians and advanced practitioners. These trends highlight how demand, flexibility, and evolving care models are influencing clinical practice this year.

Physician Job Growth Continues Across Specialties

Overall employment for physicians and surgeons is projected to grow by 3% between 2024 and 2034, resulting in an average of 23,600 job openings per year over the next decade.

This sustained demand reflects several overlapping trends. An aging population is increasing the need for ongoing and complex care. Rates of chronic illness continue to rise, requiring more longitudinal management across specialties. At the same time, demand for mental health services remains elevated, placing additional pressure on already limited clinical capacity.What This Means for Physicians: Together, these trends suggest that the physician job market is expected to remain resilient through 2026 and beyond. As a result, physicians are likely to continue to experience greater demand and a wider range of practice options, spanning both traditional roles and more flexible jobs, such as locum tenens.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Advanced Practitioner Job Growth Continues to Accelerate

As health systems continue to navigate physician shortages, advanced practice providers are becoming increasingly central to workforce planning and care delivery. That shift is reflected in strong projected employment growth for advanced practitioners between 2024 and 2034, as organizations expand team-based models to improve access, maintain continuity of care, and manage rising patient demand.

Much of this growth is concentrated in roles that support primary care, chronic disease management, and specialty services where access pressures remain high. Overall, employment for advanced practitioners continues to grow at a pace well above the average for all occupations.

The fastest growing advanced practice provider roles over the next decade include:

  1. Nurse Practitioners: 40%
  2. Physician Assistants: 20%
  3. Nurse Midwives: 11%
  4. Nurse Anesthetists: 9%

What This Means for Advanced Practitioners: In 2026, this sustained growth is shaping a job market that offers advanced practitioners greater choice in how they practice and where they focus their careers. Demand across settings is supporting broader role flexibility, evolving care models, and continued expansion of advanced practitioner responsibilities within care teams.Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Locum Tenens Becomes a Mainstream Career Consideration for Physicians

Locum tenens is increasingly viewed as a viable and intentional career option for physicians rather than a temporary or transitional role. As expectations around flexibility, workload, and career longevity continue to evolve, more physicians are exploring locum tenens as a way to supplement income, reduce hours, or regain control over how and where they practice.

According to a Doximity poll of U.S. physicians, more than 63% report that they are either already working in locum tenens or considering taking on a locum tenens position within the next five years. This level of interest reflects a broader shift in how physicians are thinking about career sustainability, particularly amid ongoing workforce shortages and rising clinical demands.

The data further indicates that demand for locum tenens coverage spans a wide range of specialties. In 2024, internal medicine and family medicine were the two most in-demand locum tenens specialties, underscoring the growing role of locums in supporting primary care access. Other high-demand specialties included both procedural and non-procedural roles, highlighting the versatility of locum tenens across care settings.

Top 10 Most In-Demand Locum Tenens Specialties

  1. Internal Medicine
  2. Family Medicine
  3. Obstetrics and Gynecology
  4. Anesthesiology
  5. Emergency Medicine
  6. Radiology
  7. Gastroenterology
  8. Psychiatry
  9. Oncology
  10. General Surgery

As locum tenens becomes more mainstream, physicians are increasingly using it to shape careers that align with personal priorities. For some, that means stepping away from full-time employment. For others, it serves as a means to maintain clinical practice while preserving flexibility, preventing burnout, or extending a career into later practice.What This Means for Physicians: With more than six in ten physicians already working in or considering locum tenens, interim practice models are becoming a normalized part of medical careers. Locum tenens provides physicians with greater control over their schedules, locations, and workloads, while offering a way to reduce administrative burden and maintain clinical practice on their own terms.

Source: Doximity

AI Is Becoming More Integrated into Clinical Workflows

Artificial intelligence is playing a growing role in how physicians and advanced practitioners deliver care. As hospitals and health systems continue to expand AI use through 2026, these tools are increasingly present in clinical settings, particularly in areas that support decision-making and reduce administrative burden.

Rather than transforming care all at once, AI is being applied incrementally across several parts of clinical practice, including:

  • Diagnostic support: Such as assisting with imaging, pathology, and diagnostic testing to help identify patterns and potential concerns earlier
  • Treatment planning: Using data analysis to support more individualized care decisions
  • Administrative workflows: Including documentation, scheduling, coding, and billing, where automation can reduce time spent on non-clinical tasks
  • Patient monitoring: Through tools that help track trends and flag issues earlier, particularly in remote or outpatient settings

As AI use continues to evolve, its role remains to support clinical judgment rather than replace it. For clinicians navigating increasing patient complexity and workload demands, AI is emerging as one of several tools that may help improve efficiency and sustainability in practice.What This Means for Physicians and Advanced Practitioners: As AI becomes more common in care settings, clinicians may see gradual improvements in workflow efficiency and decision support. These tools are contributing to incremental changes that help physicians and advanced practitioners manage increasing demands while maintaining a focus on patient care.

Navigating Clinical Careers in 2026

Taken together, these trends point to a clinical job market that continues to offer strong demand, expanding flexibility, and more options for how physicians and advanced practitioners shape their careers. Traditional full-time roles remain available, but flexible practice models, including locum tenens, are increasingly part of how clinicians manage workload, maintain balance, and plan for long-term sustainability.

Medicus works with physicians and advanced practitioners who are exploring locum tenens as a short-term opportunity, a long-term career option, or something in between. From matching clinicians with assignments that align with their goals to supporting licensing, credentialing, and logistics, Medicus helps simplify the process so clinicians can focus on practicing medicine on their own terms.

Interested in exploring locum tenens opportunities with Medicus? Complete the short form below to connect with a member of our team.
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