Physician jobs are expected to grow 15% from 2016 to 2026. As the demand for physicians grows, certain specialties are more in demand than others.
The U.S. Physician Employment Report from Doximity explored physician job growth and the impact it had on certain medical specialties in large U.S. metropolitan areas in 2016 and 2017. The findings from the report suggest that most specialties have experienced job growth. There, is however, a wide discrepancy across specialties -- from 23% increase in cardiology to 164% in geriatrics. The explosive job growth for geriatricians may be attributed to fact that the number of Americans ages 65 and older is expected to more than double from 46 million today to over 98 million by year 2016.
Top In Demand Specialties
| Medical Specialty | Job Growth |
|---|---|
| 1. Geriatrics | 164% |
| 2. Urology | 49% |
| 3. Oncology | 45% |
| 4. Hematology | 39% |
| 5. Obstetrics & Gynecology | 31% |
| 6. Gastroenterology | 27% |
| 7. Occupational Medicine | 26% |
| 8. Endocrinology | 25% |
| 9. Neurosurgery | 25% |
| 10. Cardiology | 23% |
Here's the complete 2017-2018 U.S. Physician Employment Study Workforce Trends by Metro Area and Medical Specialty Report.
Why did we create this report?
In light of the growing and aging population, the demand for physicians is rising faster than for other professions in the United States. According to recent studies, the total number of jobs available to physicians nationally are expected to grow 15 percent from 2016 to 2026. Despite this growing demand, there are few studies that detail how that growth in employment and compensation will play out on the local level. This report aims to better understand the U.S. medical labor market by analyzing data compiled from the Doximity network. Doximity is the largest medical social network with more than 70 percent of all U.S. physicians as members, which provides a unique view into the market.