Physician workload is frequently operationalized through working hours or patient volume, yet these indicators capture only part of the demand imposed by clinical work. Temporal pressure, workflow interruptions, administrative activity, staffing adequacy, and resource constraints can substantially alter the effort required to deliver the same nominal volume of care. This structured narrative review critically synthesizes evidence on physician workload and work pace as conceptually related but analytically distinct dimensions, with specific relevance to Egyptian public hospitals. A structured search strategy was applied to literature published from 2000 through August 2026, using PubMed as the principal biomedical database, targeted searches of authoritative institutional sources, and backward reference chaining for seminal measurement and theoretical literature. Twenty-nine peer-reviewed and official sources were retained for conceptual, empirical, and contextual synthesis. COPSOQ III and Job Demands-Resources theory provided the principal organizing frameworks. Across the evidence base, temporal pressure was consistently measurable: in one prospective study, 67% of clinicians reported insufficient time for new-patient consultations and 53% for follow-up visits, while direct observation of hospital physicians identified 3.66 workflow interruptions per hour. Egyptian studies similarly document substantial occupational strain; at Tanta University Emergency Hospital, 66.0% of participants reported moderate burnout and 24.9% high burnout, with work burden independently associated with burnout. Taken together, the evidence indicates that workload assessment in Egyptian public hospitals should move beyond headcount and patient volume by distinguishing task quantity from temporal intensity and integrating validated physician-reported measures with operational indicators of staffing, workflow, and usable clinical capacity.