Does the number of residency positions influence the number of practicing physicians in a state? An evaluation of the national distribution of Neurological surgeons.

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Research Abstract

Research Type

medicaleducation

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Abstract

Does the number of residency positions influence the number of practicing physicians in a state? An evaluation of the national distribution of Neurological surgeons.

Introduction

Lack of physicians in underserved areas is a national problem impacting the health of the United States.1 Some solutions for the deficiency have been proposed 2,3, and trialed with varying degrees of success 4, however, increasing the number of training positions in underserved areas has been proposed as a viable option to increase access to underserved regions.2,4

The goal of this project was to correlate the number of residency positions and number of neurosurgeons per capita in each state to determine if states with higher training positions have a higher number board certified neurological surgery attendings.

Methods

We abstracted data from the American Association of Neurological Surgery 5 and National Resident Matching Program 6 for number of first year neurosurgical residency positions, residency location, number of board certified neurosurgeons and state of residency. Population estimates were obtained from the United States Census 7. Using QGIS and Microsoft Excel, the correlation was determined between the number of residency positions and board certified neurosurgery attendings per 100,000 population by state.

Results

We identified 111 neurosurgery training programs with 231 first year positions and a total of 3979 board certified neurosurgeons. There is a positive correlation of r =0.683403 p<0000.1 r2 =0.467 between number of residency positions per capita and number of board certified neurosurgeons per capita on a state level.

Conclusion

The strong positive correlation suggests that the number of first year training positions may positively influence the total number of board certified neurosurgeons on a state level.

Reference

1. New Findings Confirm Predictions on Physician Shortage. AAMC. https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/press-releases/new-findings-confirm-predictions-physician-shortage. Accessed January 5, 2020.

2. The Role of GME Funding in Addressing the Physician Shortage. AAMC. https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/gme. Accessed January 5, 2020.

3. Chaudhary MJ. Addressing Health Workforce Maldistribution: A Medical Service Proposal. March 2019. https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/40620219. Accessed January 5, 2020.

4. Goodfellow A, Ulloa JG, Dowling PT, et al. Predictors of Primary Care Physician Practice Location in Underserved Urban and Rural Areas in the United States: A Systematic Literature Review. Acad Med J Assoc Am Med Coll. 2016;91(9):1313-1321. doi:10.1097/ACM.0000000000001203

5. Find a Board-certified Neurosurgeon. https://www.aans.org/. Accessed January 5, 2020.

6. Main Residency Match Data and Reports. Match Natl Resid Matching Program. http://www.nrmp.org/main-residency-match-data/. Accessed January 5, 2020.

7. Census - Table Results. https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=United%20States&table=DP05&tid=ACSDP1Y2017.DP05&g=0100000US&lastDisplayedRow=29&vintage=2017&layer=state&cid=DP05_0001E. Accessed January 5, 2020.

Disciplines

Health Services Administration | Health Services Research | Medical Education | Medicine and Health Sciences | Other Medicine and Health Sciences | Other Public Health | Public Health Education and Promotion

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