DATA STREAM
The Doctor Shortfall
by the Numbers
According to the Association of
American Medical Colleges (AAMC), the
doctor shortage will top 60,000 by 2025
– especially as both the U.S. population
and the U.S. physician workforce
continues to age.
The AAMC’s physician supply-anddemand report for 2016 projects the
following within the next 10 years:
Total physician shortfall:
61,70094,700
Shortage of primary-care
physicians alone:
Mentorship:
The Gift That
Keeps on Giving
Everyone knows receiving mentorship is important to a trainee, but a new survey
shows that being a mentor is just as valuable to medical school faculty members
– and it increases their job satisfaction and engagement.
Researchers surveyed 11,953 medical school faculty members from 26 U.S.
institutions and 3,529 (30%) reported having a formal mentoring relationship.
Of these:
• 86% indicated the mentoring relationship was important
(3,027)
• 77% were satisfied with their mentoring experience (2,722)
14,90035,600
Mentored faculty members also were more likely to report higher levels of satisfaction than non-mentored faculty members:
Shortage of surgeons
and specialists:
• 94% vs. 89% said they understood how their day-to-day activities support their institution’s mission.
37,40060,300
Increase in the U.S. population
by 2025:
27 MILLION
Physicians between ages 65-75:
26%
Source: Association of American Medical Colleges,
“2016 Update: The Complexities of Physician Supply
and Demand: Projections from 2014 to 2025.”
6
Trainees and Fellows Edition
• 97% vs. 91% were “highly satisfied” with their medical school
as a place to work.
• 91% vs. 80% said they understood promotion criteria.
Source: Mylona E, Brubaker L, Williams VN, et al. Does formal mentoring for faculty members matter? A
survey of clinical faculty members. Med Educ. 2016;50:670-81.
Make Room for U.S. Medical School Graduates
Enrollment in U.S. medical school has increased in the past 10 years, and despite
fears about the slower growth of graduate medical education (GME) positions,
the overwhelming majority of graduates are entering GME within 6 years of
graduation.
In a review of the Association of American
Medical Colleges Student Record System
from 2005 to 2015, researchers found that the
annual number of medical school graduates rose:
15,672
to
18,705
However, the percentage of U.S. medical school graduates not placed in GME
during the same medical school graduation year remained stable, at 3%.
Source: Sondheimer HM, Xierali IM, Young GH, Nivet MA. Placement of US medical school
graduates into graduate medical education, 2005 through 2015. JAMA. 2015;314:2409-10.