Study: Women scarce in neurosurgery

Anne Zieger — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 10:30:44 -0400

Though half of all students enrolled in U.S. medical schools are female, things look much different for the field of neurosurgery, according to a new research report. At present, female board-certified neurosurgeons account for less than 6 percent of the 3,000-odd neurosurgeons practicing now, and fewer than 5 percent of neurosurgeons in private practice are female. Meanwhile, only 300 women, or 2 percent of 16,000 graduating medical students, applied for 180 available residency positions each year over the last decade. If this trend continues, it could lead to a shortage of neurosurgeons as a whole, given the growing role of women in medicine, according to the authors of the study, which appears in the Journal of Neurosurgery.

To address this problem, medical schools and teaching hospitals need more women as department heads and leaders of other functions to help provide younger women with role models, the authors suggest. Right now, only 6 percent of full-time neurological faculty members are female.

To learn more about the study:
- read this Chicago Tribune article

Study: Acute shortage of adult primary care MDs coming

Thu, 01 May 2008 06:59:54 -0400

A new study appearing in the journal Health Affairs attaches some numbers to a problem we all see coming--the growing U.S. shortage of primary care physicians. According to the study, by 2025 the U.S. will see a shortage of 35,000 to 44,000 family or general internal medicine physicians who care for adults. Worse, with population growth and an aging population figured in, existing family physicians and general internists will see their workloads grow by a substantial 29 percent by 2025 (versus 2005 levels) if nothing is done.

To learn more about the study:
- read this Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report item
- check out the study abstract

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