The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has released Medical Workforce 2014 revealing that, among other statistics, there are strong increases in the number of women training as specialists.

AIHW spokesperson, Dr Adrian Webster, said that the proportion of women in the medical practitioner workforce has been steadily increasing since 2004. In 2014 women made up almost 40% of the medical workforce and 53% of early-career medical practitioners aged 20-34.

The report also examines demographic and employment characteristics of medical practitioners who were registered in Australia in 2014:

• 98,807 medical practitioners were registered in Australia in 2014, with 85,510 employed medical practitioners. This compares to 79,653 employed in 2012, an increase of 7.4%.
• Almost 2 in 5 employed medical practitioners were women (39.4%). This is a slight increase from 2012 (37.9%).
• About 1 in 4 employed medical practitioners were aged 55 or older (26.9%). This is generally the same as in 2012 (26.6%).
• 42.5 hours average per week were worked by medical practitioners. Men worked 45.1 hours and women 38.6 hours. In 2012, men worked 45.3 hours while women worked 38.3 hours.
• 95.3% of all employed medical practitioners worked in a clinical role. This is an increase from 2012 when 94.5% worked in a clinical role.
• 3,477 domestic students commenced medical undergraduate training in Australia in 2014. This is an extra 344 students compared to 2013.

The distribution of medical practitioners across Australia, as shown from 2011 data is illustrated in this tweet by medical student Dan Wilson:

Distribution of medical practitioners across Australia’s vast expanse at #RMA15 pic.twitter.com/uoGmb8ClWF

— Dan Wilson (@DanWilsonMD) October 23, 2015

More articles and resources on My Health Career:

• The revised accreditation standards for specialist medical programs come into effect from 1 January 2016
• 16% decrease in notifications – AHPRA 2014-2015 statistics revealed
• The health industry responds to “Wasted” – the 4 Corners report on overdiagnosis and treatment in medicine

Image: photostock – freedigitalphotos.net