More than 8,000 internal medicine specialists left the workforce from 2021 to 2022, according to a report by Definitive Healthcare.
The "Addressing the healthcare staffing shortage" report, published in September, analyzed data from hospitals, providers and other sources. It sourced its physician participation data from a panel of billing organizations from the first quarter of 2021 to the first quarter of 2023. Physicians were deemed as "dropped out" if they practiced in 2021 and stopped activity by the fourth quarter of 2022. Some providers may still be practicing but not filing claims.
Below are the 10 specialties that faced the greatest declines in the workforce from 2021 through 2022:
|
Specialty |
No. of dropouts |
|
8,718 |
|
7,842 |
|
5,985 |
|
5,059 |
|
4,142 |
|
3,506 |
|
3,207 |
|
2,872 |
|
2,536 |
|
2,134 |