Understanding the landscape of medical professionals in the United States is crucial for healthcare planning and policy. The U.S. Physician Workforce Data Dashboard, provided by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), serves as a comprehensive resource for the most current data on physicians across various specialties. This interactive dashboard consolidates information previously available in separate reports, offering a centralized platform to explore the physician workforce.
This powerful tool provides detailed statistics on active physicians in the most prevalent practice specialties—those with over 2,500 active physicians—within the United States and its territories. Users can access data including the number of physicians by specific specialty, the population per direct patient care physician within each specialty, and demographic breakdowns by age, sex, race/ethnicity. Furthermore, the dashboard details physicians’ major professional activities, medical school locations, and the type of U.S. medical degree attained. Future updates promise to incorporate data on physicians in Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) residency and fellowship programs, expanding its utility even further.
The data within the U.S. Physician Workforce Data Dashboard is compiled from reputable primary sources. Information on active physicians is sourced from the American Medical Association Physician Professional Data (AMA PPD), which is updated annually through physician surveys and other sources. Demographic data, including race and ethnicity, is gathered from various AAMC sources, prioritizing self-reported information. Population figures from the U.S. Census Bureau are utilized to calculate the number of people per physician, offering crucial context to the physician statistics. Data on undergraduate and graduate medical education comes from AAMC’s Student Records System, the AMCAS program, the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, and GME Track®, ensuring a robust and reliable dataset.
For anyone seeking to understand the distribution and characteristics of medical doctors in the United States, the U.S. Physician Workforce Data Dashboard offers an invaluable, data-driven perspective. Its comprehensive nature and reliable sources make it an essential tool for researchers, policymakers, healthcare administrators, and anyone interested in the dynamics of the nation’s physician workforce.
