Critical care workforce*

Abstract

Unless the training structure changes, the worsening shortage of intensivists will precipitate a crisis, resulting in the disintegration of critical care delivery in the United States.

Perceived effects of attending physician workload in academic medical intensive care units

“…In contrast, there is evidence that the number of physicians trained in critical care is not increasing at a comparable rate (3)(4)(5)(6). The critical care workforce shortage has progressed to the point that previous calls for universal intensivist staffing have been tempered, with some experts and professional societies calling for expanded use of telemedicine and nonphysician providers to increase access to high-quality critical care (6,7).…”

The Role of Neurocritical Care: A Brief Report on the Survey Results of Neurosciences and Critical Care Specialists

“…This is a landmark achievement, as this is the first non-neuroscience professional organization that has officially recognized neurointensivists. Considering the significant shortage of intensive care physicians in the United States currently [19], a means of infusing more intensivists into the healthcare system would appear to have support.…”

Evolution of Critical Care Cardiology: Transformation of the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit and the Emerging Need for New Medical Staffing and Training Models

“…79,110 Importantly, if universal ICU coverage by intensivists were to become an objective, the existing workforce would be insufficient to provide such coverage. 1,79,111,112 Efforts to increase the size of the intensivist workforce have been supported by professional societies, for example, with the recent proposal that emergency medicine residents train in critical care 113 and subsequent approval of the pathway by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). Moreover, a pathway for dual certification of cardiologists in critical care medicine and cardiovascular medicine is already in place and is discussed in detail below ("A Model for Training in Critical Care Cardiology").…”