Physicians in the U.S.

Alexander Fishkov, Ph.D. student Computer Science

Becoming a doctor in the U.S. is commonly associated with respect, good pay and social status, and pursuing a degree in medicine is a promising career choice for many Americans. However, students must choose from a wide range of specializations in the later stages of their education.

To become a practicing physician in the U.S., one has to receive a medical education here or be a foreign graduate in medical studies. In the latter case, one also has to receive a license to practice in the U.S. Three organizations collectively oversee the certification of medical professionals: the American Medical Association, the American Osteopathic Association and the American Association of Physician Specialists.

Today we will examine the data on the number of actively practicing physicians in the U.S. by their specialties. This data is provided by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-profit organization focusing on national health issues. The above covers the eight most popular medical specialties among the 26 total certifiable specialties in the country. It includes both national and foreign-educated doctors.

Psychiatry, surgery and anesthesiology were the most popular fields of practice in 2018; each of these fields encompassed 9 to 10 percent of all practicing physicians (501,296 in total).

The map above shows the average number of practicing doctors per 10,000 residents across the country. The state of Idaho has the lowest count (only seven physicians per 10,000 residents), while Washington, D.C. tops the list at 54. In most states, this number falls between 10 and 20.

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About Alexander Fishkov

Alexander Fishkov, Ph.D. student Computer Science

Alexander is a Ph.D. student in Computer Science. He currently holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Applied Math. He has experience working for industry major companies performing research in the fields of machine learning, data mining and natural language processing. In his free time, Alexander enjoys hiking, Nordic skiing and traveling.

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