Top Ten States For Doctors

Minnesota is ranked as the best state to practice medicine, according to a listing by Medscape, a website that provides access to medical information for clinicians and continuing education for physicians and health professionals.To identify the best states to practice medicine, Medscape ranked the states according to their performance on “hard” measures like malpractice payouts, compensation and health system performance. The rankings are also based on three “soft” measures: happiness at work, happiness outside of work and burnout, according to the physicians who practice in these locations.Medscape ranks Minnesota as the best place to practice medicine because of its livability, low incidence of adverse actions against doctors and the overall performance of its health system. Wisconsin was ranked second due to malpractice payouts falling to the second lowest in the nation and its strong educational system.Western states rounded out the top five places to practice medicine. Medscape ranked Washington, Colorado and Utah right below Minnesota and Wisconsin. These states were cited for their strong health systems, the happiness of their residents, affordability and high quality of life. Nebraska, Iowa, North Carolina, Massachusetts and Idaho filled out the top 10 on the list. Massachusetts (Boston) and North Carolina (Charlotte) were ranked high because of two standout metro areas with great health care, while the high level of happiness outside of work factor was the reason Iowa and Nebraska were ranked. Medscape also listed the worst five states for physicians to practice medicine. West Virginia was selected as the worst state because it ranks among the least livable and healthy states. Following West Virginia in the worst state rankings were Louisiana, New Mexico, Nevada and Rhode Island. Some of the reasons these states were listed include high malpractice payouts, low compensation and high rates of adverse actions against physicians.