• District of Columbia: According to new data from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), over 100,000 students were enrolled in U.S. medical schools in 2025, a new record. In total, medical enrollment reached 100,723 students in 2025, including the largest-ever incoming class of 23,440 first-year students. There was also a 5.3% increase in the number of medical school applicants from 2024 to 2025, with almost 55,000 applicants. Of those applicants, 76.5% were applying for the first time, and 57.2% were women. The states with the greatest number of medical school applicants were California, Texas, and Florida. "The growing number of applicants to medical school reflects the continued strong interest in medicine as a career," AAMC president and CEO David Skorton. "Training the next generation of physicians has always been, and will remain, a core mission of academic medicine." (Gooch, Becker's Hospital Review, 12/9; Balch, Association of American Medical Colleges, 12/9)
• Illinois: Rick Pollack, CEO of the American Hospital Association (AHA), will retire from the organization at the end of 2026. Pollack first joined AHA in the 1980s, with his first position being VP and deputy director of the organization's Washington office. He served as AHA's EVP for advocacy and public policy for over 20 years before becoming CEO in 2015. "It has been an honor and privilege to have had the opportunity to represent the women and men of America’s hospitals who are passionate in their commitment to providing essential public services, keeping people healthy and serving as the cornerstone of care for virtually every community in America," Pollack said in a statement. According to Healthcare Dive, AHA has started a nationwide search for Pollack's replacement, hiring the executive search firm WittKieffer to help. (Halleman, Healthcare Dive, 12/10)
• Rhode Island: CVS is developing a first-of-its-kind healthcare engagement platform to improve consumer experience, lower costs, and improve health outcomes. The platform will include data and services from CVS' different businesses and participating industry partners. "Strong consumer engagement — a lot of companies have stood up here and said that they’re going to do that. It still remains elusive," said CVS EVP and group president Prem Shah. "Our industry has chased engagement but no one has yet caught it." According to company leaders, CVS' broad consumer reach across its health insurer Aetna, pharmacy benefit manager Caremark, and retail pharmacy businesses will help the new platform succeed. Currently, around 62 million CVS customers engage with the company digitally, and 21 million have allowed the company to reach them in real-time with push messaging. (Pifer, Healthcare Dive, 12/10)

Physician employers are facing a shifting physician workforce. The classic playbook for physician recruitment and retention is no longer enough. Read on for the three trends driving the changes and tips for what your organization can do to win long-term loyalty.