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U.S. Physician Workforce Data Dashboard

2023 Key Findings and Definitions

Commonly Used Abbreviations

  • AAMC: Association of American Medical Colleges
  • ACGME: Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education
  • DO: doctor of osteopathic medicine
  • UME: undergraduate medical education
  • GME: graduate medical education
  • IMG: international medical graduate
  • MD: doctor of medicine
  • U.S.: United States

Key Findings

Below are the key findings from the 2023 release of the U.S. Physician Workforce Data Dashboard:

  • In 2022, the specialties with the largest numbers of active physicians were the primary care specialties of internal medicine, family medicine/general practice, and pediatrics (refer to U.S. Physicians by Specialty).
  • In 2022, the United States had 989,320 active physicians (297 per 100,000 population) and 840,259 direct patient care physicians (252 per 100,000 population). States in the Northeast had the highest numbers of both active and direct patient care physicians per population (refer to Physicians Density by Specialty and Location).
    • Among states and territories, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia had the highest number of both active and direct patient care physicians per population. In contrast, Idaho and American Samoa had the lowest number of both active and direct patient care physicians (refer to Physicians Density by Specialty and Location).
    • Nationally, there were 7 direct patient care general surgeons per 100,000 population in 2022. The District of Columbia had the highest number of direct patient care general surgeons per 100,000 population (15), followed by Vermont, Maine, and Wyoming (10 each). The Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa had the lowest number of direct patient care general surgeons per 100,000 population (0), followed by Oklahoma, Idaho, Texas, Utah, and Nevada (5 each; refer to Physicians Density by Specialty and Location).
    • The United States had 85 direct patient care primary care physicians per 100,000 population in 2022. The District of Columbia (257), Massachusetts (138), and Vermont (138) had the highest number. Excluding Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, U.S. territories had the lowest number of direct patient care primary care physicians per 100,000 population in 2022. Amongst states, Utah (66) and Mississippi (70) had the fewest direct patient care primary care physicians per 100,000 population (refer to Physicians Density by Specialty and Location).
  • In 2022, 24.7% of active physicians were international medical graduates (IMGs; refer to U.S. Physicians in All Specialties). States and territories varied widely in the percentage of their physician workforce that graduated from an international medical school (refer to Compare Physicians by Specialty and State or Territory). Puerto Rico, New Jersey, Guam, and New York had the highest percentages (47.0%, 37.9%, 37.5%, and 36.0%, respectively), while Idaho (6.2%) had the lowest percentage of IMGs (refer to Compare Data by Specialty and Location).
  • In 2022, more than one-third (37.6%) of the active physician workforce was female (refer to U.S. Physicians in All Specialties). Pediatrics (65.6%) and hospice and palliative medicine (62.2%) had the highest percentages of female physicians, while sports medicine (orthopedic surgery) and orthopedic surgery (7.5% and 6.2%, respectively) had the lowest percentages (refer to Compare Data by Specialty and Location). 
    • The highest percentages of female physicians were in the District of Columbia (49.4%), the U.S. Virgin Islands (45.5%), and Massachusetts (44.3%). Utah had the lowest percentage of female physicians at 26.2%, followed by American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands (masked due to small cell sizes, less than 20% respectively; refer to Physicians by Specialty and Location).
    • Note: The American Medical Association Physician Professional Data define gender as “male” or “female.” Although limited to these categories within our analyses, we acknowledge sex and gender as fluid, nonbinary variables.
  • In 2022, 23.2% of active physicians were age 65 or older (refer to U.S. Physicians in All Specialties). The percentages of this age group in individual specialties ranged from 66.5% in pulmonary disease to 2.0% in clinical neurophysiology (refer to Compare Data by Specialty and Location).
    • The Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa had the highest percentages of physicians aged 65 and older (masked due to small cell sizes, both above 35.0%), followed by Puerto Rico (35.5%). Utah had the lowest percentage of physicians older than 65 years (18%; refer to Physicians by Specialty and Location).
  • In 2022, 16.9% of active physicians were under age 40 (refer to U.S. Physicians in All Specialties). The percentages of this age group in individual specialties ranged from 37.6% in hospice and palliative medicine to 0.7% in pulmonary disease (refer to Compare Data by Specialty and Location).
    • Missouri had the highest percentage of physicians under age 40 (24.7%), and American Samoa had no physicians under age 40 (0%; refer to Physicians by Specialty and Location).
  • In 2022, 56.5% of active physicians identified as White, 18.8% as Asian, 6.3% as Hispanic, Latino, or of Spanish Origin (alone or in combination), 5.2% as Black or African American, and less than 1.5% identified as Multiracial (non-Hispanic; 1.3%), Other (1.1%), American Indian or Alaska Native (0.3%), or Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander (0.1%). The percentage of physicians with an unknown race or ethnicity was 10.4% (refer to U.S. Physicians in All Specialties).
  • In the late 1980s, pulmonary disease evolved into what is now known as pulmonary critical care. The decrease in physicians in this specialty is likely due to pulmonary critical care replacing pulmonary disease (refer to Total Physicians by Specialty Dashboard).
  • Since at least 2005, pathology has subspecialized rapidly. In collaboration with the College of American Pathologists, the AAMC is conducting research in which the pathology workforce has been redefined to consider its subspecialization. Based on that research, a new definition of pathologists is used in this dashboard. For more details, please refer to the Pathology Specialty Grouping table.

Undergraduate Medical Education (UME)

  • In 2022, 46 states and two territories had at least one medical school. Alaska, American Samoa, Delaware, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Montana, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Wyoming did not have a medical school.
  • During the 2022-2023 academic year, 40 students per 100,000 population (median, 41) were enrolled in U.S. medical schools. The states and territories with the highest student-to-population ratio were concentrated in the Northeast and Midwest (refer to Medical Student Density by School and Degree).
  • The rate of students enrolled in public medical schools per 100,000 population varied widely across states where a public school exists, from a low of 9.4 in Georgia to a high of 88.5 in West Virginia. Nationally, 18.9 students per 100,000 population were enrolled in public schools (refer to Medical Student Density by School and Degree).
  • Between the 2012-2013 and 2022-23 academic years, the total number of students enrolled in U.S. medical schools increased 28.7% (median, 27.9%). The total number of students enrolled in MD-granting schools grew by 14,692 and in DO-granting schools by 14,993 (refer to Percent Change in Medical School Enrollment).
    • This growth represents an 18.0% increase in MD enrollment and a 69.0% increase in DO enrollment during the 10-year period. West Virigina (-6.2%), Michigan (-1.1%), and Iowa (-0.7%) had decreases in DO-granting school enrollment. New Hampshire (-3.4%) and Maryland (-2.9%) had decreases in MD-granting school enrollment during the 10-year period. All other states including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico had increases in enrollment, and 27 states or territories showed total enrollment increases of 25% or more (refer to Percent Change in Medical School Enrollment).
  • For the 2022-23 academic year, 60.3% of new students in U.S. MD-granting schools matriculated in their home state (median, 67.4%). Puerto Rico (94.1%) and Arkansas (91.5%) had the highest percentages of in-state MD matriculants. In contrast, New Hampshire had the lowest percentage of in-state MD matriculants (refer to Percent of Students Matriculating to In-State, MD-Granting Schools).

Graduate Medical Education (GME)

  • In 2022, all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico had at least one ACGME-accredited training program. American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands did not have any ACGME-accredited training programs.
  • In 2022, there were 47 residents and fellows in U.S. training programs per 100,000 population (median, 36). This varied widely from a low of 5 in Alaska to highs of 99 in New York and 261 in the District of Columbia (refer to Resident and Fellow Density by Program and Degree).
    • In 2022, the number of residents and fellows per 100,000 population in specialty care training programs was 30 (median, 23) and 17 in primary care training programs (median, 13). Among both primary care and specialty care training programs, the highest density of residents and fellows per population occurred in the Northeast and the lowest density in the West (refer to Resident and Fellow Density by Program and Degree).
  • Nationally, more than one-fifth (23.0%) of the residents and fellows in training programs were IMGs in 2022. Alaska (masked due to small cell sizes, less than 5.0%), Colorado (5.2%) and Washington (7.9%) had the lowest percentages of IMG residents. At the other end of the spectrum, almost half of the residents and fellows in North Dakota (46.6%) and over 40% in New Jersey (41.8%) were IMGs (refer to Residents and Fellows by Location).
  • In 2022, there were more residents and fellows in U.S. training programs than there were students enrolled in U.S. medical schools, due to the presence of IMGs. The ratio of total residents and fellows to total medical students was 1.2, with a national median of 0.9. This ratio was lowest in Idaho (0.3), Puerto Rico (0.5), Maine (0.5), and South Dakota (0.6) and highest in Massachusetts (2.0), Oregon (1.8), and Connecticut (1.8; refer to Ratio of Residents and Fellows to Medical School Students).
  • The total number of residents and fellows in U.S. training programs increased 33.0% (median, 32.7%) between 2012 and 2022, and increased 15.7% (median, 14.2%) between 2017 and 2022.
    • Most states saw an increase over both time periods in the number of residents and fellows, with the exception of three states. Hawaii (10-year change, -6.6%; five-year change, -13.9%) and Alaska (10-year change, -2.9%, five-year change, -5.4%) experienced declines over both time periods. The total number of residents and fellows increased in Montana 252.2% between 2012-2022 but declined 4.7% between 2017 and 2022 (refer to Percent Change in Residents and Fellows).

Physician Retention

  • In 2022, 37.9% of U.S. physicians were practicing in the same state where they completed UME (median, 39.1%), driven primarily by retention from public medical schools. For U.S. public medical schools, the 2022 retention rate was 46.0% (median, 43.9%; refer to Physician Retention).
    • Among states and territories with both public and private medical schools, the percentage of physicians retained from UME was highest in California, Texas, and Arkansas, and lowest in Vermont, Maryland, and Iowa (refer to Physician Retention).
  • In 2022, 47.8% of U.S. physicians were practicing in the same state where they completed their most recent ACGME-accredited training program (median, 45.0%). Retention percentages were highest in Puerto Rico (72.9%), California (71.1%), Montana (62.5%), and lowest in the District of Columbia (15.5%), Delaware (27.8%), Wyoming (28.1%), and New Hampshire (28.2%; refer to Physician Retention).
  • Nationally, more than two-thirds (67.9%) of physicians who completed both UME and ACGME-accredited training programs in the same state remained in that state to practice (median, 69.6%). This percentage was highest in Hawaii (86.8%), California (81.9%), and Texas (81.1%). The remaining states and territories had percentages of 40% or greater, except for the District of Columbia (18.7%) and New Hampshire (37.7%; refer to Physician Retention).