Trends and Observations
AMN Healthcare’s annual Review of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentive s, now in its 31 st year, tracks three key physician and advanced practitioner recruiting trends: Based on the recruiting engagements AMN Healthcare is contracted to conduct, the Review indicates which types of physicians and APPs are in the greatest demand and which are the most challenging to recruit. The Review indicates the types of practice settings into which physicians and APPs are being recruited (hospitals, medical groups, solo practice, etc.) and the types of communities that are recruiting them based on population size. The Review indicates the types of financial and other incentives that are being used to recruit physicians and APPs. Each of these trends is discussed below, following an overview of the current market in which recruitment of physicians and APPs is taking place. 3 1 2
The Current Physician and APP Recruiting Market: Continued Shortages and Provider Burnout
There are various sources and metrics that can be used to assess physician supply and demand trends and to evaluate the current job market for physicians. Key among them is a periodic report issued by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). In its 2021 report, the AAMC forecast a shortage of up to 124,000 physicians by 2034, including approximately 47,000 too few primary care physicians and an even greater shortage of approximately 77,000 specialists. The AAMC’s April 2024 report downgrades this forecast to a projected shortage of 86,000 physicians by 2036 ( The Complexities of Physician Supply and Demand: Projections From 2021 to 2036. AAMC. April 2024 ). However, the report cautions that the reduced shortage numbers are based on “the hypothetical future growth in the number of medical residency positions nationwide.” Should this growth not materialize, the forecasted shortages could be significantly higher. The AAMC report further notes that “if communities underserved by the nation’s health care system could obtain care at the same rate as populations with better access to care, the nation would need approximately 202,800 more physicians as of 2021.” In effect, the AAMC suggests that it is only the low rate at which residents of financially challenged or isolated communities are able to obtain physician services that keeps the physician shortage from being exponentially worse. In a national address last year, American Medical Association (AMA) president Jesse M. Ehrenfeld stated, “The physician shortage that we have long feared – and warned was on the horizon – is already here. It’s an urgent crisis.” ( AMA President Sounds Alarm on National Physician Shortage. AMN News, October 25, 2023 )
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