Orthopedic surgery as a specialty saw a dip between 2016 and 2021, while sports medicine saw a significant jump, according to the Association of American Medical College's "2022 Physician Specialty Data Report."
The report pulled data from the the American Medical Association, the U.S. Census Bureau, and a national resident database and tracking system. It covers about about 950,000 physicians and physicians in training among 48 of the largest specialties in 2021.
In 2016, there were 19,174 active orthopedic physicians, the report said. By 2021, that figure was down 3.7 percent with 18,469 physicians.
The report differentiated between sports medicine and sports medicine (orthopedic surgery), which saw a 26 percent and 42.5 percent increase in active physicians, respecitively.
Other specialities seeing growth include pediatric anesthesiology (+37.7 percent), interventional cardiology (+ 32.6 percent) and critical care medicine (+ 30.1 percent).