Growing number of physicians practicing into their 70s

According to the Federation of State Medical Board’s biennial census, there were nearly 1 million licensed physicians in the United States in 2018. Since 2010, the average age of U.S. physicians has increased from 50.7 years old to 51.5 years old. While this seems to reflect only a slight increase, the reality is that the physician work force is trending older and has been for a while. The number of licensed physicians between 60 and 69 years old has increased 38% since 2010, while the number of physicians 70 years of age and older has increased almost 40% in the same time.

“Implications of an Aging Rural Physician Workforce,” a report published in The New England Journal of Medicine, emphasizes the impact of the increasing average age of physicians. The report states that even though the number of rural physicians grew 3% between 2000 and 2017, the number of physicians under 50 fell by 25% and the number of physicians age 60 years and older more than doubled in the same time period.

The U.S. is expected to experience a shortage of 124,000 full-time physicians by 2025 if the physician workforce continues to trend older at the same rate, according to the Association of American Medical College’s Center for Workforce Studies. The Center also warns that even if medical schools increase enrollment, there still will not be a large enough supply of physicians to sufficiently meet future demand.

Source: American Medical Association