Mr. Edward S. Salsberg, MPA, a national authority in health workforce research for more than 25 years and faculty at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, continues to examine the most recent data regarding emergency medicine workforce projections.
His latest analysis shows that the attrition rate among emergency physicians remains unusually high, compared to prior years and other specialties. Despite this, with the continued growth in residency programs (both new and existing), there will eventually be a surplus.
Monitoring the Job Market
- ACEP is working with the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) to monitor job availability for new graduates to better understand current market forces.
- ACEP created a New Practice Models and Alternative Career Options Task Force to examine expanded opportunities and career paths for emergency physicians. Having identified numerous options, the Task Force is concluding its work and will be issuing a report to the ACEP Board within a few months.
- ACEP redesigned its online job board and career pages on the website to offer both traditional and new practice opportunities for emergency physician job seekers.
Raising Residency Standards
- A multi-organizational Task Force has recommended increased residency standards to better prepare the emergency medicine workforce of the future. ACEP is participating in the workgroup to make sure your voice is heard. It is expected the Task Force’s recommendations will be published soon.
- The recommendations were shared with the ACGME Review Committee for Emergency Medicine, which is in the process of conducting a major revision of the emergency medicine program requirements. The ACGME has said its goal is to think rigorously and creatively about what emergency medicine, and the health care system, will look like in the future. Its new set of ACGME requirements should prepare today’s residents for the practice of emergency medicine well into the future.
Improving Practice Environments
- Emergency physician burnout leads all other specialties and is reported being at its highest-ever levels. ACEP empathizes with the despair felt by so many of our emergency medicine family and will continue to provide peer-suggested resources and identify practical solutions to address the problem.
- ACEP is working on many fronts to improve the working conditions of emergency physicians including extensive advocacy work tackling boarding in the emergency department, protecting physician autonomy, fighting for increased physician reimbursement, and preventing workplace violence.
2022 ACEP Council Activity on Workforce Issues
- 19(22) Due Process
- 34(22) Emergency Department Safety
- 35(22) Workplace Violence Toward Health Care Workers
- 37 (22) Enhance Patient Safety and Physician Wellness
- 38 (22) Focus on Emergency Department Patient Boarding as a Health Equity Issue
- 56 (22) Policy Statement on the Corporate Practice of Medicine
- 58 (22) Removing Intrusive Medical Exams and Questionnaires from Employment Contracts
