The national recruitment drive that matches medical residents with specialist training programs recently took place. Only 56% of adult and 49% of pediatric infectious disease training programs were filled, even though most other specialties filled all or nearly all their programs. Photo by lenetstan/Shutterstock
Luke 21:11 “There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.”
Important Takeaways:
- U.S. faces shortage of doctors specializing in infectious diseases
- The COVID-19 pandemic. Dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The current waves of influenza and RSV ripping through schools and workplaces.
- Despite this, the United States is facing a shortage of doctors choosing to specialize in infectious disease, according to the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).
- Only 56% of adult and 49% of pediatric infectious disease training programs were filled, even though most other specialties filled all or nearly all their programs, the society said.
- By 2035, an estimated 14,010 infectious disease docs will be scrambling in the face of a demand for 15,130 such specialists across the nation, HRSA says.
- Currently, 4 of 5 U.S. counties don’t have a single infectious disease doctor, del Rio noted.
Read the original article by clicking here.
