Do we have enough residencies?

[MrFlyGuy]

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Hi all,

I think the recent expansion of residency slots has been overall a good thing for psychiatry because obviously there's a lot of patients in need of our expertise but do you think we are getting to the point of needing to slow down? I know we are a far away from radiation oncology or pathology saturation but once residency slots are created they are rarely removed.

 

[Sushirolls]

Open as many residencies as we can that preserve physician level training and expertise. For psychiatry there will always be room in the many, many different practice environments. The bigger concern is ARNPs and that's why we can't waiver on the quality of our training.

 

[rikudo]

With a growing patient base and increasing demands we need to keep growing continually. NPs will fill any shortage psychiatrists leave behind. Besides there are benefits to expanding the profession including more funding, research and political clout.

 

[hebel]

We currently don't have enough residencies. Shortages can be good for our job market, but if the shortage is TOO bad people get desperate and legislators will have no problem greenlighting even more autonomy to midlevels.

 

[J ROD]

Not yet but it needs to be closely regulated. It is a fine balance. Want enough providers but also do not want saturation.

 

[ace_inhibitor111]

Maybe slow down a little...

 

[ERK123]

I mean psychiatry contracted well over 100 spots in the 1990’s so the numbers can go both ways. I agree that shortages are just going to be filled by mid-levels. A fair amount of mid-level gain has been from a doctor shortage largely driven by physician selfishness to great a good job market.