April eNews 154: About that Workforce Report
by Cameron Olderog, MD, FACEP
In every meeting with my VACEP peers, discussion inevitably turns the increasing reliance of advanced care providers in the emergency department and these scope of practice impacts to our specialty’s future. More recently, we also hit on some of the challenges and vulnerabilities laid bare, in both healthcare-at-large and within the emergency department, by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This month, ACEP released Emergency Medicine Physician Workforce: Projections for 2030, a research report reflecting evidence-based data that shows our specialty is facing – for the first time in history – an oversupply of emergency physicians in the next decade. The results are alarming, and give us the first validation of the trends that have been percolating in group discussions like mine in recent years.
Clearly, this information was not unforeseen.
But I think the biggest surprise is the degree to which we will have more physicians than jobs in 2030. There are a lot of data-driven solutions being discussed, on both supply side and demand side, that will need to be fleshed out. For example, America has seen a steep increase in EM residency programs over the past decade, with emergency medicine the fastest growing among all specialties. We must stem this growth and raise the bar for training (supply) while expanding the reach of emergency medicine and broadening our own scope of practice (demand).
And though these findings may appear worrisome, remember: We are emergency physicians. We are trained to manage pressure, handle stress and unforeseen variables, and quickly find pathways to the solution. We fix problems. So you can take the view as some may with this report and focus on the negative, or you can choose to intake this information and bend it into a positive opportunity to make our specialty stronger and better over the next 10 years. That’s my view.
So, what next?
At this stage, no one has answers. But ACEP and your state-level leadership is determined to uncover a data-driven, forward-looking approach to protect and evolve our specialty. We want to make sure any changes are thought through and don’t have unintended consequences.
“And though these findings may appear worrisome, remember: We are emergency physicians. We are trained to manage pressure, handle stress and unforeseen variables, and quickly find pathways to the solution. We fix problems. ”
Virginia ACEP is here to listen to ideas that you may have to mitigate the findings of the study. I encourage you to visit our dedicated Workforce report page at VACEP.org, where you can find a webinar recording and resources to learn more about the report (currently in peer review). On May 4, you are also invited to attend an ACEP Town Hall, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., to learn more. If you have had the urge to get more involved in emergency medicine, there has never been a better chance — or reason.
This is not necessarily what I thought would be the focus of my VACEP presidency, but it highlights many topics I believe are important to emergency medicine, such as scope of practice, employment models and emergency physician protections, and post-COVID changes to how medicine is delivered. As we emerge from the pandemic into this new world, it is a critical time to make the right moves to protect emergency physicians and our practice of medicine.
