The State of Endocrinology

State of Endocrinology Survey

Endocrinology is facing a challenge: the incidence of endocrine disease is increasing, yet the workforce is not being developed and supported to cope with the clinical and research demands this brings. 

In 2025, ESE launched an international survey to gather the endocrine community's thoughts and opinions on how well endocrinology is doing as a professional discipline, what major challenges and bottlenecks endocrinology may face in the future and how well we are prepared for these. In short: how do we see the present and future outlook of our discipline?

The response was excellent, with around 2,400 health care professionals (HCPs) and researchers, more than 250 nurses and 36 national endocrine societies contributing perspectives.

The outcomes of the survey will help us to collectively develop recommendations about how the discipline can cope with the clinical and research demands of the future. These recommendations will underpin ESE’s policy actions at a European level, as well as our 51 National Partner Societies' advocacy efforts towards healthcare decision makers.

Key findings from the survey

There is worldwide consensus that the prevalence of endocrine diseases will continue to increase, putting a greater demand on the endocrine workforce.
There is wide variation in the number of endocrinologists per capita across Europe, ranging from 0.9 to 11.7 per 100,000 population.
The endocrine workforce is struggling to meet demand – nearly a quarter of endocrinologists report waiting times of more than 90 days for new patient appointments.
The average working week for endocrine healthcare professionals is 44.3 hours, with 35.2% working more than 50 hours per week.
Work-related stress and burnout are widespread, reported by 67.5% of physicians and 72.6% of nurses. Only 7.7% say their institution offers stress management support.
Retention is a growing concern, as 35.2% of early-career endocrine physicians may leave their job in the next five years in search of a better work-life balance, income and job security.

Time for research is limited, with 41% of respondents lacking the time to do research, despite the important returns this provides to patients, physicians and society.

Endocrine Workforce 2026 – Recommendations for a healthy endocrine future

More detailed findings will be published in a forthcoming report. This includes practical recommendations to ensure that endocrine patients receive the high-quality specialist care they need and that the endocrine workforce is supported to pursue a career in endocrine care.

These recommendations cover:

Recognition of the specific demands of a specialist discipline like endocrinology in healthcare workforce planning.

Redesign of healthcare systems with new ways of delivering clinical care to those with endocrine disease.

Improvement of working conditions to support flexible careers and wellbeing, and ensure that early career healthcare professionals feel sufficiently supported.

Investing in research as a critical component of high-quality care and a thriving workforce.

Standardisation of training and education to support ‘fair’ workforce mobility.

Steering Group members

In alphabetical order:

Wiebke Arlt
Anastasia Athanasoulia-Kaspar
Jérôme Bertherat
Kirsten Davidse
Dirk De Rijdt
Trine Finnes
Charlotte Höybye
Juan Manuel Jimenez Vacas
Anton Luger
Srdan Pandurevic
Kristina Saravinovska
Josanne Vassallo

Working Groups members

In alphabetical order:

Gianluca Aimaretti
Anne Bachelot
Corin Badiu
Julia Beck
Betina Biagetti
Mustafa Cesur
Aldons Carlo Chua
Dzenana Cuturic Halilovic
Grigoris Effraimidis
Daniela Esposito
Diego Ferone
Ashley Grossman
Kristina Isand
Sander Kooijman
Marta Korbonits
Beata Kos-Kudla
Ljiljana Marina
Niina Matikainen
Barbara Obermayer-Pietsch
Juraj Payer
Alessandro Prete
Gérald Raverot
Patrice Rodien
Antoan Sojat
Jan Tuckermann
Eugenia Vlachou
Liesbeth Winter
Miloš Žarković

Catch up on the Special Session at ECE 2026

This session is a chance to learn about the State of Endocrinology survey results and recommendations developed by experts from across Europe, including representatives from national societies, European Women in Endocrinology (EUWIN), early career endocrinologists and the nurse committee.

It will be available to watch shortly via ESE On Demand.

Find out more

Latest policy activities

ESE acts as the voice of its members on the issues that matter to them. We actively engage in advocacy, encouraging government organisations to better support the needs of our members.

See the latest developments in our work to advocate for endocrinology including position statements, press releases and events.