An interesting article demonstrates more physicians are leaving clinical practice during recent years than had been the case in the past. (HT: AAPS)
The article identifies female physicians and hospital-based physicians being particularly at risk of leaving clinical practice prematurely. You think?
Another group at risk is those participating in Medicare or Medicaid.
Over the last 15 years, we have seen the introduction of the electronic health record; and massive consolidation taking place with much higher numbers of physicians employed by hospital systems and corporations. The chickens are now coming home to roost.
“Female physicians showed a 44% higher likelihood of attrition compared to male colleagues…”
In the 1960s, medical school admissions committees favored young men over women and older men [I mean 35ish] on the basis that the years of service likely gained from educating young men was likely to be longer.
J. Sobran, the medical schools are now greater than or equal to 50 percent women. I think this is a mistake for various reasons. Because this has been the case for quite a number of years, women comprise a major part of the physician workforce.
Women are more likely to become disabled during young adulthood to early middle adulthood. They are more likely to be sidelined with family obligations. I suspect they are likely to stop practicing earlier than men, as the data in this report seem to suggest. That means, as you suggest, for each physician trained, the female physician will be less available to see patients during their career than men will be.
Of course, there will be variations on this pattern, but you seem to understand there are “issues”.
I can only guess at the reason this phenomena but what I can’t figure is why a young person would leave a well paying position they had so much invested in.
Unfortunately, Fred, the article does not break out the age distribution of those leaving the profession. It could be that we are seeing many earlier retirements than we used to see, and that the younger physicians are not leaving the profession very much. I really don’t know.