The Israeli anesthesiology physician workforce.

Full Abstract

BACKGROUND:
Anesthesiology is a vital specialty that permits the safe and humane performance of painful procedures. Most Israeli anesthesiologists are immigrants, while only a minimal number of Israeli medical school graduates enter the specialty. Unfortunately, the supply of immigrant physicians is declining due to falling immigration rates.

OBJECTIVES:
To examine the current Israeli anesthesiology workforce and project future needs.

METHODS:
Demographic and professional information about Israeli hospital anesthesiologists was solicited from anesthesiology department heads. Data were also gathered about the past, present and projected future growth, age distribution and birth rate of the Israeli population. Needs and demand-based analyses were used to project future anesthesiology workforce requirements.

RESULTS:
Data on 711 anesthesiologists were obtained from 30 hospital anesthesiology department heads. Eighty-seven anesthesiologists (12.2%) graduated from Israeli medical schools and 459 (64.6%) graduated from medical schools in the former Soviet Union. Among the 154 anesthesiology residents < or = 40 years old, only 13 (8.4%) graduated from Israeli medical schools. There are approximately 10.8 anesthesiologists per 100,000 population. Projections for 2005-2015 revealed a need for 250-300 new anesthesiologists.

CONCLUSIONS:
The anesthesiology workforce is predominantly composed of immigrants. This has vast implications for the future viability of the specialty because of the continuing reduction in immigration, the lack of interest in the specialty by Israeli medical school graduates, and the projected need for many new anesthesiologists to replace retirees and to provide care to a growing and aging population.

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Author information

Author/s: Weissman, Charles (C); Eidelman, Leonid A (LA); Pizov, Reuven (R); Matot, Idit (I); Klein, Nava (N); Cohn, Robert (R);

Affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel. charles(-atsign-)hadassah.org.il

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: The Israel Medical Association journal : IMAJ (Isr Med Assoc J), published in Israel. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Apr; vol 8 (issue 4) : pp 255-60

Dates: Created 2006/05/04; Completed 2006/05/18; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 16671362, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

Comments and Corrections

CommentIn: Isr Med Assoc J. 2006 Apr;8(4):280-2. (PMID: 16671367)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult
Anesthesiology - education; manpower
Emigration and Immigration
Female
Forecasting
Foreign Medical Graduates
Health Manpower - trends

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