Trends in specialty certification.

Abstract

From 1980 to 1996, 334,597 certificates were issued by the 24 specialty boards. Of these certificates, 164,728 (49.2%) were issued in primary care specialties, 100,981 (30.2%) were certificates in the other medical specialties, and 68,888 (20.5%) were certificates in the surgical specialties. The figure above illustrates the changes that have occurred in the pool of board-certified physicians from 1980 to 1996. For the years reported, the number of certificates issued in the primary care specialties and in the other medical specialties has consistently exceeded those in the surgical specialties. It is clear that the pool of board-certified surgeons as a percentage of the total pool of board-certified physicians has declined. In 1980, the total number of certificates issued by the 24 specialty boards was 16,034, with surgical specialty certificates accounting for 23.8 percent of that number. By 1996, surgical specialty certificates accounted for 16.7 percent of the 26,462 certificates issued by the 24 boards. In 1980, 1986, 1989, 1995, and 1996 primary care specialty certificates accounted for more than 50 percent of the total number of certificates issued by the 24 specialty boards in those years. Given the substantial growth in the number of certificates in the primary care and other medical specialties depicted in the figure, certificates in the surgical specialties as a percentage of the total number of certificates has remained stable.