List of Specialties With Greatest Need?

[OMSWeebHours]

Does anyone know a high quality reference detailing which specialties currently are the most saturated and which ones have the most shortages?

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[comp1]

There are no "saturated" specialties. You can get a job in any specialty in any city in the US. The difference is how much entities are willing to pay to meet their need. Could you give us more detail on what you're hoping to do or understand with the data? It would help find the best source. Here's a random one: Statistics About The Most In Demand Medical Specialties • Gitnux

 

[LucidSplash]

There are no "saturated" specialties. You can get a job in any specialty in any city in the US. The difference is how much entities are willing to pay to meet their need. Could you give us more detail on what you're hoping to do or understand with the data? It would help find the best source. Here's a random one: Statistics About The Most In Demand Medical Specialties • Gitnux

One could certainly argue that EM is saturated as there is a prediction of a significant number of excess physicians vs job openings in the near future, as institutions and PE-backed companies have decided to hire non-physicians to fill most positions and have a limited number of physicians to “supervise” them.

Looking at the growth in EM physicians over a 10 year period but using data that is 7 years old is… not good data.

And would be careful using market research data for this discussion as the people generating it usually have different metrics in mind than physicians and also are using historical data rather than forward looking predictions based on recent changes to the market.

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

There are no "saturated" specialties. You can get a job in any specialty in any city in the US. The difference is how much entities are willing to pay to meet their need. Could you give us more detail on what you're hoping to do or understand with the data? It would help find the best source. Here's a random one: Statistics About The Most In Demand Medical Specialties • Gitnux

Yeah that's not true at all.

 

[Raryn]

Yeah that's not true at all.

I mean, generally speaking you can get a job doing what you want, where you want, for the income you want - but you're getting two of the three.

Specifically speaking, there's certain specialties that are much more difficult than others - stereotypically nephrology in recent years has been heavily oversaturated. Emergency medicine in certain markets because the specialty has grown tremendously over the last decade and jobs haven't grown as quickly - they used to be able to walk in to whatever market they wanted, now it's harder.

Probably the worst is rad onc though - there's limited demand in centers that have the equipment to support them and the job market is super saturated, I'd totally believe there's cities where a radiation oncologist couldn't get a job no matter how flexible they were.

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

I mean, generally speaking you can get a job doing what you want, where you want, for the income you want - but you're getting two of the three.

Specifically speaking, there's certain specialties that are much more difficult than others - stereotypically nephrology in recent years has been heavily oversaturated. Emergency medicine in certain markets because the specialty has grown tremendously over the last decade and jobs haven't grown as quickly - they used to be able to walk in to whatever market they wanted, now it's harder.

Probably the worst is rad onc though - there's limited demand in centers that have the equipment to support them and the job market is super saturated, I'd totally believe there's cities where a radiation oncologist couldn't get a job no matter how flexible they were.

Nah.

My hospital system covers 3 counties pretty much exclusively, top 15 fastest growing cities in the US last year and so far this year, level 1 trauma center. Only private groups are ortho, ophtho, nephrology, pulm and ENT.

We are not hiring OB/GYNs, EM, general surgery (or any subspecialties from general surgery), interventional cardiology, urology, outpatient IM, non-mammography radiology, rad onc.

 

[hippieskippy]

Nah.

My hospital system covers 3 counties pretty much exclusively, top 15 fastest growing cities in the US last year and so far this year, level 1 trauma center. Only private groups are ortho, ophtho, nephrology, pulm and ENT.

We are not hiring OB/GYNs, EM, general surgery (or any subspecialties from general surgery), interventional cardiology, urology, outpatient IM, non-mammography radiology, rad onc.

Just curious - so are you hiring FM but not outpatient IM?

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

Just curious - so are you hiring FM but not outpatient IM?

Yep.

We would take more outpatient IM but all of the outpatient IM offices are at capacity so we just don't have the physical space. There are several family medicine offices that have room for doctors to come in.

 

[comp1]

Okay, I was slightly hyperbolic, but only slightly. It's possible that you might not be able to find a radiation oncology job, in specific, immediately in a medium sized city. It's possible. However, that would still be an outlier. To try to be less hyperbolic, I'll limit it to say that you will be able to find a job in the specialties of the core MS3 clerkships (and generally the non-elective MS4 clerkships, including EM) in any city in the US at any time. It is indeed possible that if you were trained in something particularly esoteric, there may not actually be a job available at any given specific point in time in a given city for that particular esoteric specialty. You may indeed have to drive an hour or so to another nearby city. The point is...saturation, if it exists, does not mean a lack of jobs. It means that you may not like the pay you are offered at a given location. However, there remains, in general, a massive physician shortage throughout that US that will at least last as long as the baby boomers do.

 

[lobstar]

I would add that in the 2-3 areas I've looked, psychiatry is not exactly saturated, but there's plenty of competition for patients with private insurance. Panels are building slowly. Most patients getting in within 1-2 weeks. If you look at Medicaid/Medicare, however, it's wide open and patients are waiting 6 months to see someone--there's just no money in it.

 

[comp1]

Psychiatry is great. Definitely agree that there are a couple of locations where there might approach being enough psychiatrists on the insurance panels to not have horrifically long wait times. I would not say that is most places in the country however, even amongst big cities. And yes, there is nowhere where there are enough physicians taking government coverage and that includes the VA and IHS. Where you might actually see real honest to goodness saturation is cash only practices in psychiatry. Boston, SF and some other huge cities MIGHT have something approaching saturation with cash only as they have to show a real value proposition. Of course if you're really good (at business or medicine) you can still do it!

 

[vm26]

Yep.

We would take more outpatient IM but all of the outpatient IM offices are at capacity so we just don't have the physical space. There are several family medicine offices that have room for doctors to come in.

Why not hire mid-levels?

 

[vm26]

Does anyone know a high quality reference detailing which specialties currently are the most saturated and which ones have the most shortages?

By the time you make a decision, graduate, and complete training, markets will likely change significantly...I matched into radiology during its "golden age", however by the time I graduated the market was dreadful. Right now the market is wide open with massive shortage given growth of imaging 24/7, fixed # of training spots, increased pt complexity, and increase in mid-level "providers"...While I am content with my current group/set-up, I wouldn't necessarily recommend the field-sitting/standing in front of a screen in a dark room for 9-10 hours with minimal to no face to face human interaction is not healthy or normal for our species.

 

[OMSWeebHours]

By the time you make a decision, graduate, and complete training, markets will likely change significantly...I matched into radiology during its "golden age", however by the time I graduated the market was dreadful. Right now the market is wide open with massive shortage given growth of imaging 24/7, fixed # of training spots, increased pt complexity, and increase in mid-level "providers"...While I am content with my current group/set-up, I wouldn't necessarily recommend the field-sitting/standing in front of a screen in a dark room for 9-10 hours with minimal to no face to face human interaction is not healthy or normal for our species.

That's another problem, it feels like a game of future prediction

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

Why not hire mid-levels?

We are to a very limited extent. The hospital changed how they approach midlevels about 3 years ago, in primary care at least. They don't have their own patient panels, they are there to see our overflow - same day sick visits, straightforward follow ups, stuff like that. So, hiring more of them wouldn't really help out as much as hiring new doctors.

 

[eyeeye_captain]

In a niche field like mine (ophtho/retina), it’s become more possible to have certain locations closed to you. Private equity bought up a ton of practices in the last decade, so if the corporate overlords don’t feel like they need someone, no dice, or maybe they’ll make you a lowball offer. I can name some markets where supergroups run the majority because the equity company owns all the local referral sources.

It’s not as big a problem as it could be, so far. A bunch of docs took their big payout and retired ASAP (or will soon) so those practices need warm bodies. There’s a pretty strong trend in new grads being very geographically focused while also thinking it’s easier to just pick up your paycheck and not worry about running a practice. While I disagree with the second as you’re fighting management and metrics instead, it does provide the bean counters with the doctors they need.

 

[DoctwoB]

I'm in Urology. Job market is generally excellent, you can find positions pretty much anywhere though quality of said positions may be lower in relatively more desirable areas or regions with employers with monopsony power. It has been this way for a while and honestly don't see it changing given our numbers have increased relatively slowly.

The more subspecialized you get, the trickier things get. Academic Uro-onc job market is good in that everyone i know finds good jobs, but will need to be flexible on location. Ditto for peds. Both of these tend to be somewhat cyclical.

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

I'm in Urology. Job market is generally excellent, you can find positions pretty much anywhere though quality of said positions may be lower in relatively more desirable areas or regions with employers with monopsony power. It has been this way for a while and honestly don't see it changing given our numbers have increased relatively slowly.

The more subspecialized you get, the trickier things get. Academic Uro-onc job market is good in that everyone i know finds good jobs, but will need to be flexible on location. Ditto for peds. Both of these tend to be somewhat cyclical.

Seems like anything peds specialist wise will be limited to places with children's hospitals, lots of those around but lots of places without them as well.

 

[TexasMed22]

Does anyone know a high quality reference detailing which specialties currently are the most saturated and which ones have the most shortages?

Not high quality, but this is the only data I'm aware of. My gestalt is that its roughly accurate though, since rads/vascular/psych are at the top and rad onc/EM are at the bottom (which fits anecdotally).

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

Not high quality, but this is the only data I'm aware of. My gestalt is that its roughly accurate though, since rads/vascular/psych are at the top and rad onc/EM are at the bottom (which fits anecdotally).


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Nah, I've said many times that FM has the best job market in the country. I can put my finger randomly in any part of the continental US and find a FM job within 15 miles (maybe 30 in the larger midwest states) without even trying that hard.

 

[comp1]

I wonder what people think when they say a job market is "strong." Is it something like, I'm paid well for what I do? You could interpret that in so many ways.

 

[dozitgetchahi]

I have never heard of a locale where it was like “yeah, we have enough psychiatrists”. If you want a specialty where the demand is strong in a wide swath of the country (with no sign of that changing in the near future), psych is probably one of the better bets.

 

[TexasMed22]

I have never heard of a locale where it was like “yeah, we have enough psychiatrists”. If you want a specialty where the demand is strong in a wide swath of the country (with no sign of that changing in the near future), psych is probably one of the better bets.

This is true, but the major problem with specializing in psychiatry is that you have to practice psychiatry

 

[deleted1171787]

This is true, but the major problem with specializing in psychiatry is that you have to practice psychiatry

What's the issue(s) with psychiatry?

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

What's the issue(s) with psychiatry?

It is absolutely not for everyone. Most of us don't want to spend an hour talking with each patient.

 

[Prehealth1011]

What's the issue(s) with psychiatry?

For me, no lab values to get out of an hour-long conversation about feelings.

 

[OMSWeebHours]

It is absolutely not for everyone. Most of us don't want to spend an hour talking with each patient.

Honestly, I don't mind talking to people much. It's interesting to learn about them. I call friends a lot in my free time and conversations with people with completely different experiences are pretty interesting to me. Adds variety.

To me, the only major concern I would have is that treatment seems to not be as straightforward, you can't just follow a specific procedure with a near guarantee it will get better like in Surgery.

 

[clausewitz2]

It is absolutely not for everyone. Most of us don't want to spend an hour talking with each patient.

Sometimes I see people talking up the angle of "oh, you can easily work 30-ish clinical hours a week and make over 300k" as a point in favor of outpatient psychiatry. This is indeed a positive thing if you like the work. But this is a normal thing because doing it well for 30 hours a week is exhausting for the people who really like it. If you didn't enjoy the work, it would be the slowest kind of death.

 

[Ironspy]

Sometimes I see people talking up the angle of "oh, you can easily work 30-ish clinical hours a week and make over 300k" as a point in favor of outpatient psychiatry. This is indeed a positive thing if you like the work. But this is a normal thing because doing it well for 30 hours a week is exhausting for the people who really like it. If you didn't enjoy the work, it would be the slowest kind of death.

So much this. I love my job but 30 hours of direct patient care is my absolute limit before I start getting salty. 25 hours/week is better. You have to like talking&listening, be ok with uncertainty and be curious about who your patients are and what is driving their thoughts and behaviors to do this work

 

[DoctorMD1]

By the time you make a decision, graduate, and complete training, markets will likely change significantly...I matched into radiology during its "golden age", however by the time I graduated the market was dreadful. Right now the market is wide open with massive shortage given growth of imaging 24/7, fixed # of training spots, increased pt complexity, and increase in mid-level "providers"...While I am content with my current group/set-up, I wouldn't necessarily recommend the field-sitting/standing in front of a screen in a dark room for 9-10 hours with minimal to no face to face human interaction is not healthy or normal for our species.

you can always find another job working from home doing 4-6 hours shifts.

 

[DoctorMD1]

Nah, I've said many times that FM has the best job market in the country. I can put my finger randomly in any part of the continental US and find a FM job within 15 miles (maybe 30 in the larger midwest states) without even trying that hard.

rad market is like that now. additionally, you can work from home exclusively and set your own schedule.

 

[vm26]

rad market is like that now. additionally, you can work from home exclusively and set your own schedule.

True however WFH (which I personally have mixed feelings about since I'm married with kids😆) comes with a discount when it comes down to what one makes per wRVU.

 

[vm26]

For me, no lab values to get out of an hour-long conversation about feelings.

Point taken, though one could argue the primary care/EM deal with both physically/psychological pathology routinely which seems brutal...I would guess that vast majority of PP psychiatrists are medication management only (?15-20 min sessions) and probably not that hard to establish a cash only business. Plus one can do this with tele-health given the need in certain parts of the country

 

[ExistentiallyChallenged]

rad market is like that now. additionally, you can work from home exclusively and set your own schedule.

This is what has me thinking I missed my best fit in this specialty. I matched to Path, left residency for health/personal reasons after a very bad life event, now put that all behind but developed a strong aversion to Path in the aftermath of other stress plus a…background of anxiety-inducing toxic program ( bad enough to be internally audited). But I’m definitely a “let’s sit in a dark room fr hours and analyze everything” type of person. Despite moving on I feel my energy levels were affected enough that I doubt my physical stamina for another 5 years of training and the impact of that on my health and family. Although I could definitely be friends with radiology from home when I consider my future older self…