The report is based on data from the American Medical Association, the Census Bureau, and a national resident database and tracking system. Overall, it covers about 950,000 physicians and physicians-in-training among 48 of the largest specialties in 2021, according to a Jan. 12 AAMC news release.
Here are the 10 specialties with the highest proportion of physicians younger than 55:
1. Sports medicine: 2,916 (91 percent)
2. Pediatric anesthesiology: 2,543 (89.4 percent)
3. Interventional cardiology: 3,973 (83.9 percent)
4. Internal medicine/pediatrics: 4,748 (83.3 percent)
5. Sports medicine (orthopedic surgery): 2,429 (79.3 percent)
6. Critical care: 10,797 (76.3 percent)
7. Clinical cardiac electrophysiology: 1,945 (73.9 percent)
8. Vascular and interventional radiology: 2,960 (73.8 percent)
9 (tie). Neuroradiology: 3,153 (73.1 percent)
9 (tie). Pediatric critical care: 2,028 (73.1 percent)
By comparison, nine out of 10 actively practicing pulmonologists are older than 55.
Here are the 10 specialties with the highest proportion of physicians older than 55:
1. Pulmonary disease: 4,496 (92.4 percent)
2. Preventive medicine: 4,672 (71.4 percent)
3. Clinical pathology: 8,628 (70.9 percent)
4. Cardiovascular disease: 14,448 (64.9 percent)
5. Thoracic surgery: 2,790 (62.7 percent)
6. Psychiatry: 23,645 (61.6 percent)
7. Orthopedic surgery: 11,191 (60.6 percent)
8. Neurology: 8,214 (59.3 percent)
9. Plastic surgery: 4,120 (57 percent)
10. Anesthesiology: 24,029 (56.9 percent)
