Profession
Bear markets and primary care
■ An occasional snapshot of current facts and trends in medicine.
Quick View. Posted May 9, 2005
The worse the economy, the lower the interest new doctors have in going into a primary care specialty.
| Portion of new doctors choosing specialty | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total (FP, IM, Peds) | Family Medicine | Internal Medicine | Pediatric | Dow Jones | |
| 1991 | 41.3% | 10.6% | 20.7% | 10.0% | 2,964 |
| 1992 | 41.5% | 10.8% | 20.6% | 10.1% | 3,296 |
| 1993 | 41.9% | 12.6% | 19.0% | 10.3% | 3,538 |
| 1994 | 43.9% | 14.0% | 19.3% | 10.6% | 3,793 |
| 1995 | 46.2% | 15.4% | 19.9% | 10.9% | 4,534 |
| 1996 | 49.1% | 17.0% | 20.5% | 11.6% | 5,780 |
| 1997 | 49.9% | 17.3% | 20.8% | 11.8% | 7,438 |
| 1998 | 50.0% | 16.0% | 21.5% | 12.5% | 8,610 |
| 1999 | 48.3% | 14.7% | 20.9% | 12.7% | 10,475 |
| 2000 | 46.4% | 13.5% | 20.8% | 12.1% | 10,688 |
| 2001 | 43.4% | 11.1% | 20.7% | 11.6% | 10,140 |
| 2002 | 42.3% | 10.4% | 20.3% | 11.6% | 9,181 |
| 2003 | 40.5% | 9.2% | 19.4% | 11.9% | 9,018 |
| 2004 | 39.8% | 8.7% | 19.2% | 11.9% | 10,293 |
Researchers of a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine looked at the Dow Jones index for the past 14 years and found that when the market slowed -- as it did in 2002 -- physicians were less likely to go into family medicine, internal medicine and pediatrics. Mark D. Schwartz, MD, the study's lead author, suggests that general medicine disciplines should unite to seek medical school applicants interested in primary care and change medical training curriculum and culture that now tend to encourage students to specialize rather than go into primary care.
Source: "Rekindling Student Interest in Generalist Careers," Annals of Internal Medicine, April 19
