Emergency in the national ER: Only 8% of department-dedicated docs working rural
U.S. residency programs in emergency medicine have no trouble attracting, training and preparing the next generation of outstanding ER physicians. The problem is that a paltry percentage take their clinical skills where the need is greatest: rural America.
So finds a national study of the emergency physician workforce conducted by the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) and published in Annals of Emergency Medicine.
Lead study author Christopher Bennett, MD, of Stanford and colleagues counted around 49,000 emergency physicians active as of this year.
The numbers show the specialty more than replacing its retirees. In 2008 the exercise found approximately 4,600 residents in 145 residency programs in 2008.
Today there are very close to 8,000 residents in 247 programs.
However, 2020 finds only 4,000 of those 49,000—8%—practicing in rural areas.
That’s down from 10% in 2008, suggesting the shortfall may get even worse before any fixes start making it better.
Further, the rural ER physician workforce is aging out of the practice. More than 70% of its members completed their medical training more than 20 years ago.
And an astonishing 96% of emergency doctors who completed a residency or fellowship within the past four years now practice in nonrural areas.
In an ACEP news release, Bennett says demand for emergency care in rural areas “will remain high while emergency physician shortages in these communities continue to pose significant challenges” for health systems as well as patients.
“There are reasons to be optimistic about the pipeline of residents and trainees; however, we need to encourage a larger percentage of these individuals to work in rural America,” he adds.
ACEP points out that 1 in 5 Americans lives in a rural area.
The organization says the present research underscores its concerns and “complements a developing analysis from its Emergency Medicine Workforce Task Force that will help identify best practices, site supervision requirements, and funding mechanisms to support research, cost savings, and promotion of residency training programs with more focus on rural emergency care.”
Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.