There are more practicing internal medicine physicians in the U.S. than any other specialty, with nearly 129,000 physicians, according to data from the Association of American Medical Colleges.
In total, there are 1,032,365 active physicians in the U.S. across all specialties, according to 2024 data from the organization, the latest available.
Family medicine and general practice is the only other specialty with more than 100,000 active physicians.
Here is the number of active physicians practicing across 52 specialties:
- Internal medicine: 128,953
- Family medicine/General practice: 126,171
- Pediatrics: 62,485
- Emergency medicine: 52,460
- Obstetrics and gynecology: 44,046
- Anesthesiology: 43,499
- Psychiatry: 40,780
- Radiology and diagnostic radiology: 28,618
- General surgery: 26,837
- Cardiovascular disease: 23,011
- Pathology: 21,783
- Ophthalmology: 20,096
- Orthopedic surgery: 19,419
- Hematology and oncology: 18,612
- Critical care medicine: 17,472
- Gastroenterology: 17,219
- Neurology: 14,949
- Dermatology:13,601
- Nephrology: 12,623
- Child and adolescent psychiatry: 11,147
- Infectious disease: 10,964
- Urology: 10,910
- Otolaryngology: 10,316
- Physical medicine and rehabilitation: 10,181
- Endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism: 9,183
- Plastic surgery: 7,719
- Pain medicine and pain management: 7,351
- Rheumatology: 7,071
- Neonatal-perinatal medicine: 6,743
- Geriatric medicine: 6,667
- Preventive medicine: 6,594
- Internal medicine/Pediatrics: 6,474
- Neurological surgery: 6,391
- Interventional cardiology: 5,984
- Radiation oncology: 5,894
- Allergy and immunology: 5,281
- Neuroradiology: 5,193
- Thoracic surgery: 4,772
- Vascular surgery: 4,604
- Pulmonary disease: 4,473
- Sports medicine: 4,148
- Vascular and interventional radiology: 4,020
- Pediatric hematology/oncology: 3,699
- Sports medicine (orthopedic surgery): 3,665
- Surgical critical care (surgery): 3,510
- Pediatric cardiology: 3,492
- Hospice and palliative medicine: 3,489
- Pediatric critical care medicine: 3,427
- Pediatric anesthesiology: 3,308
- Clinical cardiac electrophysiology: 3,153
- Clinical neurophysiology: 2,787
- Pediatric emergency medicine: 2,513
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