Review of AMA’s Findings on Physician Characteristics and Distributions

by Wendy Abdo, Staff Writer; and Michael P. Broxterman, COO

Determining trends in healthcare is similar to diagnosing a sickness based upon symptoms. One must look at all the related facts before recognizing the problem and treating the ailment.

For the healthcare administrator, the supply of physicians both now and in the future is a fundamental component of proper planning. For physicians, understanding these statistics can help them ascertain how much competition exists in their prospective fields and geographic locations. For recruiters, this invaluable market research helps determine the size and composition of their target markets.

Below, we have highlighted some interesting statistics from the AMA’s 2004 edition of Physician Characteristics and Distribution in the U.S. These statistics very often serve as initial indicators of health care trends that will influence the industry in the years to come.

Number of Physicians

From 1965 to 2002, nonfederal physicians have increased at a rate of 212.6 percent while the U.S. population growth increased only 50.6 percent. The AMA reports a total of 853,187 federal and nonfederal physicians in the United States for 2002. While this number seems high, keep in mind that it includes both active and inactive physicians. The AMA collected their data primarily from the Census of Physicians’ PPA Questionnaire that is periodically sent out to U.S. physicians.

As you can see in the table below, there has been a significant increase in the number of physician graduates since 1970. International medical graduates have helped meet the growing demand for doctors in the United States and at present make up about 25 percent of the total physician population.

Female physicians have also shown a significant increase when compared to earlier statistics. In 1975, there was one female physician to every 11 male physicians. As of 2002, one in four total physicians were female. This represents a five-fold increase. In addition, more recent counts have revealed that half of new medical student enrollees are now women. What accounts for this phenomenal growth? There are many contributing personal factors, but it seems that more women choose to delay marriage and parenthood in favor of higher education and career opportunities not only in the medical sector, but in all industries as a whole.

According to AMA statistics, over two-fifths of U.S. physicians are less than 45 years of age. Female physicians show higher percentages in younger age groups when compared to males. Among female physicians, the highest percentage is in the 35-44 age bracket. The age group that has the highest percentage of male physicians is 45-54 years of age.

Physicians 65 or older have tripled from 1975 when there were only 50,993 physicians to 2002’s figures of 156,417 physicians 65 or older. As the baby boomer generation continues to age, we should see a substantial rise in older physicians. However, ongoing managed care issues are inducing many aging doctors to consider early retirement and this may offset future growth expectations for this age group.

Physician Specialties

Primary Care has increased by 97.6 percent from 1975 to 2002 while the total number of physicians showed over twice as much increase. At 522.3 percent, Family Practice takes up the largest proportion of this increase trailed by Pediatrics at 146.6 percent. In contrast, General Practice has declined by 68 percent. In 1995, the AMA reported a total of 280,988 Primary Care physicians (including subspecialties). In 2002, there were 344,223 Primary Care physicians.

In the past, recruiting was geared more toward primary care specialties. However, today’s recruiting environment is showing a greater demand for specialist opportunities than ever before. What specialties have the greatest number of physicians? According to the AMA, the following ten specialties show the highest counts of physicians in 2002:

Specialties With Highest Percentage of Physicians Under 35 and over 65 Years of Age:

Male Physicians under 35:		Physicians over 65:
Internal Medicine (23%)		General Practice (50.2%)
Family Practice (9.6%)		Public Health (38.1%)
General Surgery (7.7%)		Occupational Medicine (28.9%)

 

Female Physicians under 35:

Internal Medicine (22.6%)

Pediatrics (17.8%)

Family Practice (13%)

Specialties that have the lowest mean physician ages are Internal Medicine/Family Practice (29.5), Pediatrics/Emergency Medicine (30.6), and Internal Medicine/Emergency Medicine (31). In contrast, some specialties that have the highest mean physician ages include Psychoanalysis (70.2), General Practice (65.4), and Gynecology (63.8).

Board Certification

Most physicians today are board certified with only 29.9 percent, a little less than a third, not certified. Ten specialties that have the highest and lowest concentrations of board certified physicians are:

Doctors of Osteopathy

The AMA reported there were 50,776 Doctors of Osteopathy within the United States in 2002. This figure represents approximately 6 percent of all U.S. physicians. A majority of these physicians were between the ages of 35 and 44, and 78.5 percent were younger than 55. According to statistics, there is one Osteopathic physician per 17 Allopathic physicians in the U.S.

The top five specialties for DOs include:

Family Practice (23.1%)
Internal Medicine (10.5%)
General Practice (6.9%)
Emergency Medicine (5%)
Anesthesiology (3.9%)

(note that all five specialties represent almost half of all DOs)

Geographic Distributions

The AMA reports that over half of the 853,187 physicians are located in just ten states as follows:

In 2002, 720,808 out of 831,123 physicians were living in Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). This figure represents approximately 86.7 percent of all nonfederal physicians and seems to support the assumption that most physicians locate near large patient populations, which explains the higher levels of competition within these metropolitan areas as opposed to the relatively low levels of competition in more rural environments.

Physician-to-Population Ratios

During 2002, the total number of physicians in the United States per population of 100,000 was 284. In comparison, the physician-to-population ratio for 1980 was 202 and 142 in 1960. Consequently, the growth rate of physicians is outpacing our overall population growth. While U.S. population growth was recorded as 50.6 percent from 1965 to 2002, the physician percentage growth rate was much higher at 212.6 percent.

Below is a chart revealing physician-to-population ratios per region as noted by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Regions such as New England and the Mid-Atlantic states that have higher population densities had more physicians per population and those regions with lower population densities had less physicians per population.

Though these statistics are helpful in serving as broad-spectrum indicators, healthcare staffing planners must study the demographics and specific needs of their own communities. For example, within the state of Florida, there are areas that are predominantly geriatric while other districts are populated by a younger age group. Consequently, a particular town might achieve the state’s average physician-to-population ratio for Cardiologists, but in fact need more Cardiologists than the state average because of the concentration of retired people with heart problems in their vicinity. Therefore, it is imperative that healthcare planners make sure they gather data specific to their local communities before making judgments based on national or regional numbers.

Conclusion

While there are more physicians today than ever before, physician recruitment firms still find a growing need for organizations to fill open positions within the medical community. What accounts for this apparent disparity? One explanation may be the increased demand for healthcare. People today are more apt to visit doctors than in the past. Another reason could be the increase in sophisticated technologies in treating various diseases and disorders, many of which are handled by specialists. Physicians are also on the move more than ever. They are looking for such things as better pay and benefits, a specific work environment and schedule that meets their needs as well as a location that puts them closer to friends and family or a desired climate.

We hope you find these statistics helpful. As a leading physician recruitment firm, we are under obligation to actively study ongoing distributions, growth, and patterns that appear within the universe of physicians. This data is then analyzed and put into use to match physicians with the right job opportunities and medical organizations.