Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation: Trends in Graduate Medical Education and Subspecialization Amid Changing...

With an aging and growing US population, American healthcare faces an impending physician shortage. This is important for the field of physical medicine and rehabilitation, because physiatrists' skills in managing chronic conditions and functional outcomes are especially relevant to an older population. The present study was designed to better understand the future physical medicine and rehabilitation workforce, by recording and analyzing the quantities of Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education-accredited physical medicine and rehabilitation graduate medical education programs and positions between 2001-2002 and 2017-2018. Results indicated that physical medicine and rehabilitation graduate medical education has grown since 2001-2002, especially in subspecialties such as pediatric rehabilitation and sports medicine. However, the growth in physical medicine and rehabilitation residency positions has been three-fold lower than that of total graduate medical education. In addition, subspecialization has become increasingly prevalent, and residency positions have declined relative to the population of older adults. The future identity of physical medicine and rehabilitation will continue to develop as professional and demographic trends shape this important medical specialty.