The combination of rising demand and decreasing supply will leave the US with a dramatic shortage of urologists in just 12 years. 
New analysis performed by Dr. Raj S. Pruthi predicts that the urologist workforce will be 29% smaller in 2025. The forecast model also predicts a 25% decrease in the full-time equivalent (FTE) supply of urologists within the same time period. Dr. Pruthi and his colleagues started with the supply of urologists in 2009 and subsequently added new entrants from the graduate medical education (GME) pipeline and subtracted urologists who are expected to retire or take breaks from practice. Dr. Pruthi said Congress’s decision to cap GME funding in 1996 has stemmed the flow of urologists entering the workforce to a point where a third of medical students who want to specialize in urology can’t get residencies. Earlier this year, the AMA launched the Save GME campaign, aimed at protecting federal funding for GME from any cuts. However, Dr. Pruthi said none of the proposed changes to the GME program, including the recommendations from the Council of Graduate Medical Education’s recent proposal to Congress, will be enough to address the shortage. Demand for urology services is likely to increase in the coming years as well with the American population aging and the expansion of insured patients under the Affordable Care Act. Many specialties are expecting a shortage, but few seem as drastic as urology. As always, Barton Associates is prepared to help address this and other physician shortages by providing top-quality locum tenens providers to short-staffed hospitals, practices, and health systems.
New analysis performed by Dr. Raj S. Pruthi predicts that the urologist workforce will be 29% smaller in 2025. The forecast model also predicts a 25% decrease in the full-time equivalent (FTE) supply of urologists within the same time period. Dr. Pruthi and his colleagues started with the supply of urologists in 2009 and subsequently added new entrants from the graduate medical education (GME) pipeline and subtracted urologists who are expected to retire or take breaks from practice. Dr. Pruthi said Congress’s decision to cap GME funding in 1996 has stemmed the flow of urologists entering the workforce to a point where a third of medical students who want to specialize in urology can’t get residencies. Earlier this year, the AMA launched the Save GME campaign, aimed at protecting federal funding for GME from any cuts. However, Dr. Pruthi said none of the proposed changes to the GME program, including the recommendations from the Council of Graduate Medical Education’s recent proposal to Congress, will be enough to address the shortage. Demand for urology services is likely to increase in the coming years as well with the American population aging and the expansion of insured patients under the Affordable Care Act. Many specialties are expecting a shortage, but few seem as drastic as urology. As always, Barton Associates is prepared to help address this and other physician shortages by providing top-quality locum tenens providers to short-staffed hospitals, practices, and health systems.
