I would like to know the standard physician population ratio by
specialty, for example, based on population of 100,000; our
multi-specialty clinic would need to staff 10 ob/gyn's to adequately
serve this population.

houser..

Thank you for your very interesting question.  Here is a breakdown of
some statistics regarding the physician population in the United
States:

Physicians per 100,000 people:
1999-291
1980-202
1960-142

Since 1965, the number of physicians has grown a 4 times the rate of
the overall population.  From 1965 to 1999, the growth in physicians
was 173.1%.

Breakdown by region, Number of physicians per 100,000 civilian
population:
Pacific-278 (WA, OR, CA, AK, HI)
Mountain-236(MT, ID, WY, NV, UT, CO, AZ, NM)
West North Central-246 (ND, SD, NE, KS, MN, IA, MO)
West South Central-224 (OK, TX, AR, LA) 
East North Central-259 (WI, IL, IN, OH, MI)
Middle Atlantic-370 (NY, PA, NJ) 
New England-396 (ME, VT, NH, MA, RI, CT) 
East South Central-232 (KY, TN, AL, MS)
South Atlantic-285 (MD, DE, VA, WV, NC, SC, GA, FL)


Regarding specialties, the top specialties and the ratio of these
physicians per 100,000 civilians:
Pediatrics-57.5 per 100K
Psychiatry-12.0 per 100K
Obstetrics/ Gynecology-11.4 per 100K
Anesthesiology-9.2 per 100K
General Surgery-10.8 per 100K
Orthopedic Surgery-6.5 per 100K
Emergency Medicine-5.6 per 100K
Diagnostic Radiology-8.6 per 100K

Thanks again for your question.  If you need any additional
clarification, please let me know.

Regards,

-THV

Search Strategy:
physician ratio population
physician specialist ratio

References:

PHYSICIAN STATISTICS SUMMARY
http://www.phg.com/article_a011.htm

V. Health Manpower & Health Services Inventory
http://www.cirhm.org/lompoc/data.5.A.asp

Physician Workforce Ratios for Child Health
Chapter 2, State Level Ratios
http://www.aap.org/research/chapter2.PDF
NOTE: Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader

---

Request for Answer Clarification by houser-ga on 20 Jan 2003 13:07 PST

Thank you for your prompt answer.  I am looking for more specialty
breakouts/ratios ...specifically:  Cardiology, Family Medicine,
Otolaryngology, Urology and Internal Medicine, (which we have at our
multispecialty clinic.  Do you have these numbers also?  Thanks again.

---

Clarification of Answer by tar_heel_v-ga on 20 Jan 2003 14:18 PST

houser..

Here is the information you are looking for:
FP: 21.2 per 100k
IM: 21.3 per 100K
Cardiology: 4.9 per 100K
Otolaryngology: 2.7 per 100K
Urology: 2.2 per 100K

I hope the above helps!

Regards,

-THV

Reference:
PHYSICIAN: POPULATION RATIOS BY SPECIALTY
http://www.jsmg.com/article_selecting9.htm