The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) released a report of America’s Doctors in training. The report discusses, race, gender, specialties, and other demographics.
According to the report, in 2020, nearly 140,000 medical residents worked in health care systems across the United States. The number of active residents covered in the report increased from 134,951 in 2019 to 139,848 in 2020.
More Key Findings From the Report:
When asked to identify their race, MD residents selected:
- White — 50.8%.
- Asian — 21.8%.
- Hispanic — 7.5%.
- Black or African American — 5.5%.
- American Indian or Alaska Native — 0.6%.
- Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander — 0.2%.
(Note: Residents could choose more than one race, and the figures do not include the 16.5% of residents who are neither U.S. citizens nor permanent U.S. residents.)
When it comes to gender in the specialties with the most residents, women make up a larger percentage of residents in Family Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Pediatrics, while men make up a larger percentage of residents in Anesthesiology, Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine, Psychiatry, Radiology, and Surgery. Click here to view gender distribution by specialty.
It is not uncommon for medical students to change their specialties along the way. Almost half of students graduating in 2019-20 (48.7%) reported that they will graduate with a different specialty than what they had planned.
On the other hand, (26.1%) of students reported that they will graduate with the same specialty preference as they had indicated at the start of medical school. The “continuity rate” was highest in these specialties:
- Orthopaedic surgery — 48.7%.
- Pediatrics — 39.1%.
- Neurological surgery — 37.6%.
- Emergency medicine — 36.8%.
The report also found after completing their residencies, the majority of doctors don’t move far away. Most residents (55.5%) who completed training from 2010 through 2019 continue to practice medicine in the states where they did their residencies. Physician retention among states after residency is highest in California (77.6%) and lowest in Delaware (38.3%).
To learn more about America’s medical residents, click here!