Postgraduate Medical

Perhaps a good indicator of the current specialty trends is the residency choices of

medical school graduates. For a very recent year these choices were approximately as

follows:

Internal medicine, 27%

Pediatrics, 11%

Family practice, 12%

Surgery, 10%

Obstetrics and gynecology, 8%

Psychiatry, 6%

Orthopedic surgery, 5%

Radiology, 4%

Anesthesiology, 3%

Emergency medicine, 3%

Others, 11%

PHYSICIAN EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Because of the shortage of physicians in rural and inner city areas, it was decided in the

late 1960s to increase the number of practicing physicians. It was assumed that this

would bring about a surplus of urban physicians and induce a better geographical distri-

bution of health professionals. This has not come about and the underserved areas have

had only modest improvement in spite of a higher ratio of specialists to generalists of

70:30. Projections of a surplus of over 100,000 specialists and a shortage of 30,000 gen-

eralists by the year 2000 have been reported.

In partial response to this situation, the number of allotted residency slots have

diminished from 135% to 100%. Medical schools are beginning to focus on training pri-

mary care physicians by giving students an opportunity to complete ambulatory clerk-

ships. Nevertheless, greater emphasis on the changing health care scene has to be

brought to the attention of prospective physicians so that they can find their appropriate

place in the professional world.

Postgraduate Medical - Page 18