A Census of Actively Licensed Physicians in the United States, 2010

Abstract

ABSTRACT As part of their ongoing effort to protect the public, the nation's 70 state and territorial medical and osteopathic boards regularly collect and disseminate information about actively licensed physicians in their jurisdictions to the FSMB's Federation Physician Data Center. This article summarizes results from the first-ever comprehensive analysis by FSMB of this information, from state boards and additional sources, to present a census of actively licensed physicians in the United States and the District of Columbia in 2010. While noting the value to state boards and multiple stakeholders of an accurate count of physicians — including information about their gender, age, specialty certification and location by region — the article acknowledges opportunities for future collaboration among organizations and agencies to better define current physician supply in order to better predict future physician needs for a growing and aging national population.