Nearly one-third of physicians in the U.S. could leave the medical profession after Obamas healthcare reform plan becomes law, according to a survey published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

In the survey, 29.2 percent of practicing physicians said they would quit practicing medicine or retire early if faced with the healthcare reform.

What many people may not realize is that health reform could impact physician supply in such a way that the quality of healthcare could suffer, said Jim Stone, a managing partner with The Medicus Firm, a national physician search company that conducted the survey.

But just 3.6 percent of those polled said they prefer the status quo and feel the healthcare system does not need an overhaul.

Allow me to emphasize that 96 percent of the physicians surveyed in our report are in favor of health reform, in some form or fashion, Andrea Santiago, a spokeswomen for The Medicus Firm, told CNSNews. To me, the fact that so many physicians surveyed want health reform, but relatively few are in favor of the current legislation, was one of the most significant, telling results.

Other findings of the survey include:

• 28.7 percent of physicians favor a public option.
• 46.3 percent of primary care physicians  family medicine and internal medicine  feel that health reform will either force them out of medicine or make them want to leave medicine.
• 36 percent of physicians would not recommend medicine as a career.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 661,400 physicians and surgeons in the U.S. in 2008.