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By the Numbers

A Look at Physician Characteristics

Figures compiled and distributed by the American Medical Association show the dramatic increase in the number of physicians in the United States since 1970. Between 1970 and 2000, the total number of Federal and non-Federal physicians grew by 244%. The number of women physicians increased at over three times that rate, an astounding 770%.

In 1980, female physicians represented 21.5% of the total number of medical residents/fellows. By 2001, female physicians had almost doubled in number to 40.0% of all residents/fellows. As the percentage of women enrolled in medical schools continues to approach 50%, the percentage of women physicians will continue to rise.

The following two tables indicate the most common medical specialties for female and male physicians. The data reveals not only the lingering dominance of male physicians in surgical specialties but also the emerging prominence of certain medical specialties (cardiovascular disease, emergency medicine) over the last few decades.

The most common specialties for female physicians over the past several decades were:

While the most common specialties for male physicians were:

More telling is to look at the distribution of female physicians by medical specialty. The following chart indicates the percentage of women physicians within each medical specialty by decade. Though female physicians continue to make significant gains, they are still vastly under-represented in all surgical specialties as well as other specialties such as gastroenterology, cardiovascular diseases, and otolaryngology.

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