Data Detail: Physician Trends in the 2022 FSMB Census

data detail
workforce

Top 4 Trends in FSMB’s Biennial Physician Census

Author

Kurtis A. Pivert, MS

Published

August 4, 2023

More than 1.4 million active licensed physicians were practicing in the U.S. in 2022—up 23% from 2010—per the Federation of State Medical Boards’ (FSMB’s) recently released biennial census (Figure 1).(Young et al. 2023) Now in its seventh iteration, FSMB’s census provides a detailed, holistic view of physician demographics, training, and licensing, linking together data from state medical boards, the National Board of Medical Examiners, American Board of Medical Specialties, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This Data Detail outlines four key trends from the 2022 census and whether these trends are reflected in the current nephrology workforce.

Figure 1. Total U.S. Active Licensed Physicians 2010—2022

Trend 1: Increasing Physician–U.S. Population Ratio

U.S. Physicians

Since 2010, growth in the number of U.S. physicians outpaced the U.S. population, resulting in a 13% increase in the physician/100,000 population ratio, an important surrogate marker for physician supply (Figure 2, Figure 3). Despite the effects of COVID-19 pandemic, there were 313 physicians for every 100,000 individuals in the U.S. in 2022. Contributing to the 2022 totals were 31,504 first-time licensees, likely including the 377 newly board-certified nephrologists entering practice.(ABIM 2022) However, it’s important to note the geographic distribution of these physicians was not provided and these ratios likely vary substantially between and within regions.

Figure 2: Physician to Population Ratio 2010–2022

Figure 3: Percent Change in Physicians and U.S. Population 2010–2022

Nephrologists

Available data on the nephrology workforce (using the AMA Masterfile) for the period between 2008 and 2020 shows the specialty grew 51% (from 7,550 [2008] to 11,554 [2020]).(AAMC 2022) Using the prevalent ESRD population as a rough surrogate measure for nephrologist demand, the workforce kept pace with a prevalent ESRD population that increased 47% over this same period (Figure 4).(USRDS 2022)

Figure 4: Percent Change Nephrologists and Prevalent ESRD Population 2008–2020

Trend 2: A Graying Physician Workforce

U.S. Physicians

Nearly a third (31.5%) of U.S. physicians are ≥60 years old, and this age group has grown 54% since 2010. Similarly, mean physician age has increased from 50.7 to 51.9 years. Yet physician age differs substantively between women and men—31% of the female cohort was <40 years old and 38% of males were ≥60 years. Since 2010, there’s been a shift in the age distribution between the sexes, with more male physicians entering the oldest age quartile (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Change in Distribution of Binned Age for Female and Male Physician Cohorts

Nephrologists

In 2021 60.2% of nephrologists were <55 years (6,955 nephrologists), with 39.8% (4,596) aged ≥55 years. Additionally, this proportion of physicians <55 years among nephrologists was larger than all other medical specialties combined (53.3%).(AAMC 2022) Age data aggregated by subspecialist sex was not available.

Trend 3: Post–Matriculation Parity Yielding More Women Physicians

U.S. Physicians

Since achieving parity in medical school matriculation in 2014, the number of women physicians have increased 54%, accounting for 37% of all U.S. physicians in 2022.

Nephrologists

In 2022, 29% of practicing nephrologists (3,388 of 11,541) were women. This represents a 110% increase from 2008, outpacing the growth of female physicians overall.

Figure 6: Proportion of Women Physicians (left) and Nephrologists (right)

References

AAMC. 2022. “2022 Physician Specialty Data Report.” https://www.aamc.org/data-reports/data/2022-physician-specialty-data-report-executive-summary.
ABIM. 2022. “Initial Certification Pass Rates.” 2022. https://www.abim.org/Media/yeqiumdc/certification-pass-rates.pdf.
Brotherton, Sarah E., and Sylvia I. Etzel. 2022. “Graduate Medical Education, 2021-2022.” JAMA 328 (11): 1123. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2022.13081.
Pivert, Kurtis A. 2022. “First Look: AY 2023 Match.” November 30, 2022. https://data.asn-online.org/posts/ay_2023_match.
USRDS. 2022. “2022 USRDS Annual Data Report: Epidemiology of Kidney Disease in the United States.” https://usrds-adr.niddk.nih.gov/2022.
Young, Aaron, Humayun J. Chaudhry, Xiaomei Pei, Katie Arnhart, Michael Dugan, and Kenneth B. Simons. 2021. “FSMB Census of Licensed Physicians in the United States, 2020.” Journal of Medical Regulation 107 (2): 57–64. https://doi.org/10.30770/2572-1852-107.2.57.
Young, Aaron, Humayun J. Chaudhry, Xiaomei Pei, Katie Arnhart, Michael Dugan, and Gregory B. Snyder. 2017. “A Census of Actively Licensed Physicians in the United States, 2016.” Journal of Medical Regulation 103 (2): 7–21. https://doi.org/10.30770/2572-1852-103.2.7.
Young, Aaron, Humayun J. Chaudhry, Xiaomei Pei, Katie Arnhart, Michael Dugan, and Scott A. Steingard. 2019. “FSMB Census of Licensed Physicians in the United States, 2018.” Journal of Medical Regulation 105 (2): 7–23. https://doi.org/10.30770/2572-1852-105.2.7.
Young, Aaron, Humayun J. Chaudhry, Xiaomei Pei, Katie Halbesleben, Donald H. Polk, and Michael Dugan. 2015. “A Census of Actively Licensed Physicians in the United States, 2014.” Journal of Medical Regulation 101 (2): 7–22. https://doi.org/10.30770/2572-1852-101.2.7.
Young, Aaron, Humayun J. Chaudhry, Janelle Rhyne, and Michael Dugan. 2010. “A Census of Actively Licensed Physicians in the United States, 2010.” Journal of Medical Regulation 96 (4): 10–20. https://doi.org/10.30770/2572-1852-96.4.10.
Young, Aaron, Humayun J. Chaudhry, Jon V. Thomas, and Michael Dugan. 2013. “A Census of Actively Licensed Physicians in the United States, 2012.” Journal of Medical Regulation 99 (2): 11–24. https://doi.org/10.30770/2572-1852-99.2.11.
Young, Aaron, Xiaomei Pei, Katie Arnhart, Jeffrey D. Carter, and Humayun J. Chaudhry. 2023. “FSMB Census of Licensed Physicians in the United States, 2022.” Journal of Medical Regulation 109 (2): 13–20. https://doi.org/10.30770/2572-1852-109.2.13.

Citation

BibTeX citation:
@online{a._pivert2023,
  author = {A. Pivert, Kurtis},
  title = {Data {Detail:} {Physician} {Trends} in the 2022 {FSMB}
    {Census}},
  date = {2023-08-04},
  url = {https://data.asn-online.org/posts/data_detail_fsmb/},
  langid = {en}
}
For attribution, please cite this work as:
A. Pivert, Kurtis. 2023. “Data Detail: Physician Trends in the 2022 FSMB Census.” August 4, 2023. https://data.asn-online.org/posts/data_detail_fsmb/.