Perceptions of the current and future emergency medicine workforce

Objective

The objectives of the study were to assess emergency medicine (EM) physician perceptions of the EM job market 2 years after “The Emergency Medicine Physician Workforce: Projections for 2030” was published in Annals of Emergency Medicine and to examine how the workforce report may have influenced perceptions about job prospects.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2022 of EM residents, fellows, and attendings at 21 practice sites. Main outcomes were perceptions of the likelihood of currently finding any job, currently finding a desirable job, and confidence in the future EM job market.

Results

Note that 831 of 1938 physicians (42.9%) responded. A total of 92.4% reported a high likelihood of finding any job currently, 49.8% reported a high likelihood of finding a desirable job currently, and 44.4% reported future confidence. Workforce report familiarity was associated with greater likelihood of finding a desirable job. Fellows were least confident in the future. Residents with desired Midwest location were twice as confident in the future job market; those with desired West location were less confident. Attendings 20 or more years post-training were more than twice as likely to report a high likelihood of finding a desirable job and almost twice as likely to report future confidence. Attendings in leadership were nearly three times as likely to report high a likelihood of finding a desirable job and future confidence.

Conclusion

EM trainees and attendings have favorable perceptions of the current job market but are less confident in future prospects. As the projected surplus of EM physicians appears to have had an impact, updated projections are needed for more accurate assessments of the future of the specialty.