Ever have one of those days where you just want to call it quits?

According to a new study published in the July issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, and authored by a Loyola University School of Medicine professor and others, “those days” are a prominent problem for many primary care physicians.

Burnout, says Dr. Anita Varkey, could contribute to the national decline in primary care physicians, and in turn, lower quality care for patients.

The study, which polled 422 doctors in the Midwest, including Chicago, and New York City, found that large numbers of physicians claimed a lack of control of their work, a chaotic work pace and time constraints during patient visits.

More than a quarter complained of burnout. More than 30 percent indicated they would leave the field within five years.

These factors, the study concludes, lead to low job satisfaction and the decision to leave the primary care field.

Primary care physicians are shrinking in numbers across the country, according to the Association of Medical Colleges. By 2025, the country may face a shortfall of more than 124,000 primary physicians.

“There are not enough primary care physicians to meet current needs,” says Varkey, an assistant professor at the Stritch School of Medicine. “These findings suggest that a chaotic clinic environment may further exacerbate this problem and potentially lead to lower quality of patient care due to physician turnover and lack of continuity of care.”

While physicians may experience stress, and a subsequent desire to leave the field, Varkey and her colleagues, which include Dr. Bernice Man of Rush Medical College, did not find that patient care was affected by stress.

Rather, they found that there could be long-term negative effects, as doctors with whom patients are familiar move on.

Varkey says more study is needed to determine the long-term effects of what she calls "discontinuity" of care, and more research is planned in the future.

She says the researchers wanted better understand work conditions at outpatient facilities, an area that has not been studied much.

“If you look at where people get taken care of, it happens in doctors’ offices,” she says, calling primary care locations the “frontlines” of medicine.

The constant need for care can drain doctors, especially new ones, she says.

“The nature of primary care is that you’re meant to be available to your patients. That’s hard when people want to have some semblance of work-life balance,” she says. However, “most of the time people going in to medicine know this is a high-stress area, and you have to be OK with that.”

The study also polled more than 1,000 patients to determine their feelings on the level of care they received from primary care physicians. Patients suffering from diabetes, hypertension and heart failure participated.

With the national debate on health care reform ongoing, and with President Barack Obama’s call for more primary care physicians, Varkey says the study is timely.