August 7, 2026

@michaelokun

The academic Parkinson's and movement disorders workforce is at a crossroads. Are we under threat of losing our best clinician-researchers? What does academic medicine mean? Academic medicine refers to health care providers who care for patients while also teaching the next generation and conducting research to improve the future of medicine. Mahajan and colleagues describe in a new paper in Movement Disorders Clinical Practice the current state of the academic movement disorders workforce in the United States and the challenges threatening its future. Key points: - More than half of surveyed academic movement disorders neurologists reported considering leaving their current position or academic medicine during the previous year. - The leading reasons included pressure to see more patients, inadequate salary, poor clinical support and loss of professional autonomy. - The author argues that improving retention will require reducing administrative burden, strengthening research support, investing in faculty development and restoring balance to the missions of patient care, education and research. My take: This paper resonated deeply w/ me. Academic movement disorders has never simply been about generating revenue (term RVUs commonly used). It is about caring for the most complex patients, training future leaders and discovering tomorrow's treatments. If we lose sight of that mission, everyone loses, especially the folks living w/ Parkinson's disease, dystonia, Huntington's disease, Tourette syndrome and many other neurological disorders. Burnout is frequently a systems problem, not an individual problem. Protecting academic medicine means protecting the future of neurology. Here are 4 points that resonated w/ me: 1- We must value teaching, mentoring and discovery just as much as clinical productivity. 2- Administrative burden and inadequate support steal time from patients, research and education. 3- Recruiting and retaining talented academic neurologists will require meaningful investment in wellness, autonomy and career development. 4- As the Parkinson pandemic grows, we cannot afford to lose the next generation of movement disorders specialists.