Interest is booming successful sports medicine and interventional cardiology, portion less doctors are specializing successful orthopedic country and radiology. The fig of women doctors continues to turn and they are astir apt to absorption their signifier connected children, women, and families, portion men are much apt to go surgeons.
Those are among the findings successful the AAMC’s 2022 Physician Specialty Data Report, which highlights the numbers of physicians, residents, and fellows among the 48 largest specialties successful 2021. For the archetypal clip since its inception successful 2008, the biennial study presents information connected the contention and ethnicity of progressive physicians — showing, for example, that Asian doctors are particularly apt to absorption connected nephrology, Hispanic doctors (regardless of race) connected geriatric medicine, Black doctors connected obstetrics and gynecology, and Pacific Islander, American Indian, and Alaska natives connected symptom management.
Here are immoderate notable trends revealed by the 2021 data, which covers astir 950,000 progressive physicians.
Broad specialties gully wide interest
The largest fig of progressive physicians are successful superior attraction specialties: interior medicine (120,342 physicians), household medicine/general signifier (118,641), and pediatrics (60,305). The numbers for immoderate different specialties:
- Emergency medicine — 46,857
- Cardiovascular illness — 22,262
- Ophthalmology — 18,948
- Urology — 10,081
- Allergy and immunology — 5,009
- Clinical cardiac electrophysiology — 2,632
Asked to place their large nonrecreational activity, the physicians reported:
- Patient attraction — 819,007
- Research — 12,357
- Teaching — 12,248
- Other — 106,046
Wide varieties successful race/ethnicity
Physicians could study much than 1 contention oregon not respond. Among the findings, by percent of progressive physicians:
- Native Hawaiian oregon Other Pacific Islander — 0.1%
- American Indian oregon Alaska Native — 0.3%
- Multiple races, non-Hispanic — 1.3%
- Black oregon African American — 5.7%
- Hispanic — 6.9%
- Asian — 20.6%
- White — 63.9%
Among the astir fashionable specialties, by race/ethnicity:
- Native Hawaiian oregon Other Pacific Islander — Sports medicine, pediatric anesthesiology, symptom medicine and symptom management
- American Indian oregon Alaska Native — Family medicine/general practice, preventive medicine, symptom medicine and symptom management
- Multiple races, non-Hispanic — Pediatric anesthesiology, sports medicine, vascular and interventional radiology
- Black oregon African American — Obstetrics and gynecology, preventive medicine, kid and teen psychiatry
- Hispanic — Geriatric medicine, infectious disease, kid and teen psychiatry
- Asian — Nephrology, interventional cardiology, geriatric medicine
- White — Orthopedic surgery, sports medicine (orthopedic surgery), otolaryngology
“One wide takeaway is that physicians from groups underrepresented successful medicine are much concentrated successful superior attraction and a fewer different specialties, similar symptom medicine and symptom management,” says Michael Dill, the AAMC’s manager of workforce studies.
Different genders, antithetic specialties
More than one-third (37.1%) of the progressive doc workforce successful the United States were women, continuing a dependable rise. According to the Physician Specialty Data Reports from 2008 to 2022, the percent of progressive physicians who were women stood at:
- 2007 — 28.3%
- 2010 — 30.4%
- 2013 — 32.6%
- 2015 — 34.0%
- 2017 — 35.2%
- 2019 — 36.3%
- 2021 — 37.1%
The summation successful women physicians reflects the continuing emergence successful the fig of aesculapian students who are women. Data released past month by the AAMC amusement that for the 2022-23 schoolhouse year, women accounted for the bulk of applicants, matriculants, and full enrollees — the 4th consecutive twelvemonth that women person made up the bulk of each 3 groups.
Most of the specialties successful which women made up the bulk of progressive physicians absorption connected children, women, and families, including:
- Pediatrics — 65%
- Obstetrics and gynecology — 60.5%
- Pediatric hematology/oncology — 55.7%
- Child and teen psychiatry — 54.6%
- Neonatal-perinatal medicine — 54.2%
Women besides accounted for conscionable implicit fractional of physicians successful dermatology, geriatric medicine, and endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism.
However, they remained a important number successful respective specialties, particularly surgeries, including:
- Orthopedic country — 5.9%
- Thoracic country — 8.3%
- Neurological country — 9.6%
“Year aft year, we spot women physicians stay concentrated successful the aforesaid specialties,” Dill says. “That tells america we person overmuch much enactment to bash successful presumption of sex equity successful the doc workforce.”
Specialty preferences change
Several specialties grew importantly from 2015 done 2021, portion immoderate declined. Among those that grew oregon decreased the most, with the percent change:
- Sports medicine — up 42.5%
- Pediatric anesthesiology — up 37.7%
- Interventional cardiology — up 32.6%
- General country — down 2.2%
- Radiology and diagnostic radiology — down 2.4%
- Orthopedic country — down 3.7%
Aging Workforce
The doc workforce continues to turn older, connected average: 46.7% of progressive physicians successful the United States were property 55 oregon older — up from 44.9% successful 2019 and 37.6% successful the archetypal specialty report, which covered 2007.
The specialties with the highest stock of doctors ages 55 and supra included:
- Preventive medicine — 71.4%
- Cardiovascular illness — 64.9%
- Thoracic country — 62.7%
Those with the highest stock of doctors nether property 55 included:
- Sports medicine — 91%
- Pediatric anesthesiology — 89.4%
- Internal medicine/pediatrics — 83.3%
The AAMC has said that the increasing fig of physicians nearing status property is 1 origin down a projected doc shortage.
Moving distant oregon staying nearby
Some specialists are much apt than others to signifier adjacent to wherever they trained. The specialties with the highest percentages of progressive physicians practicing successful the aforesaid authorities wherever they trained were kid and teen psychiatry (57.0%), household medicine/general signifier (56.0%), and psychiatry (55.5%).
The specialties with the lowest percentages of physicians remaining successful authorities aft grooming included thoracic country (29.2%), integrative country (33.0%), and neurological country (33.4%).
Residents and fellows
These information are for residents and fellows successful programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).
Specialties: The specialties with the largest numbers of first-year residents and fellows ranged greatly, topped by 11,297 successful superior care. Here are immoderate information astir different specialties:
- Family medicine/general signifier — 4,856
- Emergency medicine — 2,820
- Cardiovascular illness — 1,072
- Gastroenterology — 619
- Nephrology — 413
- Vascular country — 210
- Preventive medicine — 97
Gender: 47.3% of residents and fellows were women, ranging from a precocious of 86.4% successful obstetrics and gynecology to a debased of 10.7% successful sports medicine (orthopedic surgery).
Types of doctors: Medical doctors from the United States accounted for astir residents and fellows (60.1%). Doctors of osteopathic medicine made up 16.9% and planetary aesculapian graduates made up 22.9%.
From 2015 done 2021, sports medicine and psychiatry saw the astir maturation successful first-year ACGME residents and fellows (27.2% and 26.3%, respectively). The biggest decreases came successful preventive medicine (39.4%) and pediatric anesthesiology (16.0%).
For much details, including tables, read the afloat report.
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