In 1949, the United States had 191,577 doctors of medicine to serve a population of about 150 million Americans. By 1960, the number of doctors had grown 36% to 260,484.2 The graphic shows data for the years between 1970 and 1996. In 1970 there were 323,800 practicing physicians (up 24% from 1960). The number of doctors grew 117% between 1970 and 1996, to 701,200, to serve a population of 265 million people.
The chart shows that there were 155.6 physicians per 100,000 population in 1970 and 260 in 1996, a 67% increase. For an international perspective, consider this: In the period 1990 to 1998, physicians per 100,000 population ratios for the United States, India, Philippines, and Pakistan were 270, 40, 10, and 60, respectively (Biviano and Makarehchi).
Of the 701,200 doctors practicing in 1996, 663,900 were allopaths and 37,300 were osteopaths. Allopathy can be defined as "That system of medical practice which aims to combat disease by the use of remedies which produce effects different from those produced by the special disease treated; a term invented … to designate the ordinary practice, as opposed to homeopathy" (homeopathy is discussed in Chapter 3). Osteopathic >medicine is "A system of therapy and medicine based on the theory that the normal body is a vital mechanical organism whose structural and functional states are of equal importance and is capable of making its own remedies against infections and toxic conditions when there are favourable environmental circumstances and adequate nutrition."3 Between 1970 and 1996, allopathic physicians increased 113% and osteopathic physicians increased 196%.
Minority Physicians: The table shows physician data by ethnicity for the year 2000. The number of doctors reached 812,770 that year, up 16% over 1996. An estimated 10% of the physician workforce are underrepresented minorities (African American, Hispanic, Native American), although these groups comprise 30% of the population and will comprise 40% by 2030.
Women Physicians: More women began entering medical school in the 1970s and by the 1980s an estimated 17% of doctors were women. Today women make up more than 21% of practicing physicians. American medical schools awarded 8,314 medical degrees in 1970, of which, 699 were awarded to women (8%). Of the 15,286 medical degrees awarded in 2000 (an 84% increase), 6,525 (43%) were awarded to women.
Foreign-born doctors: More foreign-born doctors are practicing in the United States. They represented nearly 25% of all allopaths practicing in 2000. (See the panel entitled Physician Workforce: Current Concerns for more on this topic.)
Why do we have so many more doctors today than we ever had? Why do we have more foreign-born doctors? Do we have more doctors than we need? We will examine those questions in the next three panels.
Physicians 2000 by Race/Ethnicity
| Race/Ethnicity | Number | Percentage |
| White | 431,607 | 53.0 |
| Black | 20,464 | 2.5 |
| Hispanic | 28,189 | 3.5 |
| Asian | 72,602 | 8.9 |
| American Native/Alaska Native | 491 | .0006 |
| Other | 20,104 | 2.5 |
| Unknown | 240,313 | 30.0 |
| Total | 812,770 | 100.4 |
Sources: Chart: Data estimated by Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Health Professions, http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/healthworkforce/factbook.htm. Table: Total Physicians By Race/Ethnicity, 2000, American Medical Association, http://www.amaassn.org/ama/pub/article/168-187.html. Marilyn Biviano and Farzaneh Makarehchi, Globalization and the Physician Workforce in the United States, Bureau of Health Professions, 2002, http://bhpr.hrsa.gov:80/healthworkforce/gpw.htm. "Women's History in America," Women's International Center, http://www.wic.org/misc/history.htm. Kreier, Rachel, "Celebrating Women Physicians," American Medical News, Vol. 41, No. 30, Aug. 10, 1998, http://www.ama-assn.org/sci-pubs/msjama/articles/vol_280/no_9/art7.htm. Milani, Laura "Training for Tomorrow," New Physician, March 1994. Information retrieved September 30, 2002.
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