Too Few or Too Many Dermatologists?

The canary seems fine: The effects of the economy on job-seeking experiences of recent dermatology training program graduates

“…Consistent with previous reports of long waiting times and shortage of dermatologists, 21,22 anticipated work hours continue to surpass ''ideal work hours,'' reflecting the fact that the dermatology workforce is unlikely to increase its work hours substantially despite opportunity to do so in the context of unmet demand. However, half a year into the recession, 2008 respondents increased by 3 hours per week their ideal time spent with patients from 35 to 38 hours, which may represent an adaptation in light of the current economy.…”

“…The dermatology profession has historically enjoyed a steady demand for their services and for the past decade, a stable undersupply of dermatologic services has been reported in the United States, 21,22 with wait times for new patient appointments J AM ACAD DERMATOL VOLUME 63, NUMBER 2 averaging 31 to 59 days. 26,27 The shortage of dermatologists has been attributed to various factors, including the demographic shift in the aging US population and the dermatologic workforce itself, increasing skin cancer incidence in the United States, stagnation of the number of dermatology residency positions, and expansion in scope of practice.…”

The US dermatology workforce: A specialty remains in shortage

“…Since 1999, a stable undersupply of dermatologic services has been reported in the United States, [1][2][3] with a maldistribution of physicians exacerbating the problem in some areas. Despite tremendous surplus demand by medical students to enter the field, 4-6 a lack of significant expansion in the number of training positions during the last 3 decades has caused the supply of combined doctor of medicine and doctor of osteopathy dermatologists in the United States to plateau around 10,600 (or 3.6/100,000 population).…”

Telehealth Ethics

“…In dermatology, for example, though the workforce has risen in recent years (presently 3.4 per 100,000 population compared to 1.8 in 1965 and 2.8 in 1985), there remains a significant maldistribution toward economically thriving metropolitan areas and away from underserved areas (poor urban and rural). 25 For specialty services like dermatology this means that many in remote areas needing treatment do not get it. Telemedicine, with both store-and-forward and videoconferencing capability, is one means by which these individuals can gain fair access to providers at a distance; however, the location and accessibility of telehealth may still be a problem because telehealth units are typically not especially mobile.…”