 Employment
Physicians and surgeons hold about 633,000 jobs in the United States;
approximately 15 percent were self-employed. About half of
wage-and-salary physicians and surgeons worked in offices of physicians,
and 18 percent were employed by hospitals. Others practiced in Federal,
State, and local governments, including colleges, universities, and
professional schools; private colleges, universities, and professional
schools; and outpatient care centers.
According to 2005 data from
the American Medical Association (AMA), about one half of physicians in
patient care were in primary care, but not in a subspecialty of primary
care.
|
Percent
distribution of active physicians in patient care by
specialty, 2005 |
| |
Percent |
|
Total |
100.0 |
|
Primary care |
40.4 |
|
Family medicine
and general practice |
12.3 |
|
Internal medicine |
15.0 |
|
Obstetrics &
gynecology |
5.5 |
|
Pediatrics |
7.5 |
|
Specialties |
59.6 |
|
Anesthesiology |
5.2 |
|
Psychiatry |
5.1 |
|
Surgical
specialties, selected |
10.8 |
|
All other
specialties |
38.5 |
|
Source: American
Medical Association, Physician Characteristics and Distribution
in the US, 2007. |
A growing number of
physicians are partners or wage-and-salary employees of group practices.
Organized as clinics or as associations of physicians, medical groups
can more easily afford expensive medical equipment, can share support
staff, and benefit from other business advantages.
According to the AMA,
the New England and Middle Atlantic States have the highest ratio of
physicians to population; the South Central and Mountain States have the
lowest. D.O.s are more likely than M.D.s to practice in small cities and
towns and in rural areas. M.D.s tend to locate in urban areas, close to
hospitals and education centers.
Note: Some resources in this section are provided by the US Department
of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics
and the American Medical Association.
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