Cover Kidney News
Volume/Issue:
Volume 1: Issue 4
Page:
11–13
Publication Date:
01 Jul 2009
Online Publication Date:
22 Jun 2015
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  • 3.

    Government Accountability Office: Graduate Medical Education: Trends in Training and Student Debt. May 4, 2009.

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    Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education: Internal Medicine Program Requirements. http://www.acgme.org/acWebsite/downloads/RRC_progReq/140_internal_medicine_07012007.pdf

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  • 5.

    Association of American Medical Colleges Center for Workforce Studies: 2008 Physician Specialty Data. http://www.aamc.org/workforce/specialtyphysiciandatabook.pdf

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    Mullan F: The metrics of the physician brain drain. N Engl J Med 2005; 253:1810–1818.

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    United States Renal Data System 2008 Annual Data Report; Volume Two; Atlas of End-Stage Renal Disease, Incidence and Prevalence.

Editorial Type:
Special Section

The Impending Workforce Crisis in Nephrology

Susan Owens
Volume/Issue:
Volume 1: Issue 4
Publication Date:
01 Jul 2009
Page:
11–13
Restricted access

The United States will face a shortage of nephrologists during the next decade. This shortfall will occur despite the fact that the number of nephrology fellows nearly doubled during the past 20 years, from 460 in 1987 to 863 in 2008 (1,2). The current disparities—by ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and geographical location—among patients with kidney disease will worsen as a result of this shortage.

At least three simultaneous trends are conspiring to fuel this crisis: Nephrology is not an appealing career option for the majority of U.S. medical school graduates (USMGs), the graduates of international medical schools
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