Here are 10 takeaways to know from the report:
- In 2021, 37.1 percent of active physicians were female, making up over one-third of the physician workforce.
- Meanwhile, 47.3 percent of residents in ACGME-accredited programs were female.
- The most common specialty for women in residency programs was obstetrics, with 86.4 percent of residents being female.
- The least common area was sports medicine, with 10.7 percent of residents being female.
- Sports medicine and psychiatry saw the most growth in the numbers of first-year residents and fellows between 2016 and 2021. Preventive medicine and pediatric anesthesiology experienced the biggest drop.
- In 2021, internal medicine was the most common specialty, with over 120,000 physicians, followed by family medicine/general practice and pediatrics.
- In 2021, 46.7 percent of practicing physicians were 55 or older.
- Pulmonary disease is the oldest specialty on average, with 92.4 percent of its providers being 55 or older.
- Sports medicine is the youngest specialty on average, with only 9 percent of physicians being 55 or older.
- Sports medicine experienced some of the biggest growth among specialties between 2016 and 2021, growing by 42.5 percent.
