The number of physicians is declining, with sometimes worrying trends depending on the region. On the other hand, the feminization of the profession is well underway.
An aging profession… but increasingly feminized. the fourth atlas of medical demography, published by the National Council of the Order of Physicians, draws up a contrasting assessment of the number of physicians in France.
Aging, because if the number of health professionals has never been so high, a large proportion of doctors are now retired. In Ile de France and Corsica in particular, they are almost a third in this case. Some regions, more fortunate, register an entry of new doctors which compensates for retirements.
Be that as it may, it is certain that at the scale of the territory, fewer and fewer physicians are exercising a regular activity. This is reflected in concrete terms on the ground by a drop in staff, again more or less marked depending on the region.
Variation in the number of physicians by region. Source: Order of Physicians
More women … and more liberals
Another significant development this year is the feminization of the profession, which is accelerating. Again, there are significant regional disparities.
Women doctors are particularly young. Among those under 45, they represent more than 60% of the workforce in the most feminized regions such as Île de France or Brittany. In the lagging regions, of which Corsica is once again part, between 45 and 53% of doctors are women.
Perhaps more surprisingly, women are not averse to settling in rural areas as liberal generalists. On average, in France, 60.2% of them have embraced this branch of medicine. In some less urbanized regions, such as Franche-Comté, this proportion reaches almost 70%. For the entire population of physicians, the rate of liberalization remains globally stable, between 40 and 45% after five years of registration with the order of physicians.
In terms of medical specialties, psychiatry and ophthalmology are experiencing a marked increase in their numbers. The rate of access to an ophthalmologist is increasing as a result in several regions, for example in Nord-Pas-De-Calais.
Number of ophthalmologists on the rise in the North. Source: Order of Physicians
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