Infectious disease workforce to diminish, according to experts

A group of leading medical researchers recently wrote an article, cautioning that the number of newly-trained infectious disease physicians will not match future needs posed by emerging diseases or the expected increase in resistant microbes.

The group includes Rochelle Walensky of Harvard Medical School, and Wendy Armstrong and Carlos del Rio of Emory University’s School of Medicine. Their commentary appears in a recent issue of the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

The authors write that infectious diseases outbreaks have remained relatively stable over the last 35 years, accounting for brief spikes caused by influenza, pneumonia, and HIV/AIDS. Mortality rates from drug-resistant bacteria, however, are expected to rise due to the shrinking number of effective antibiotics.

The authors also wrote that the number of new physician trainees entering the infectious disease field had declined precipitously since 2011. Between 2009 and 2017, the number of adult infectious disease programs that filled all their available positions dropped by 41 percent while the number of applications declined by 31 percent.

“In a recent study I conducted with my colleague Erin Bonura, we explored the reasons for the mismatch between supply and demand in infectious diseases,” Armstrong said. “Primarily, the value of ID as a specialty has been under-recognized and under-compensated. Yet despite this, ID specialists often rank among the most fulfilled physicians.”

The authors made a number of suggestions to address shortage of new infectious disease physicians including supporting innovative teaching methods in undergraduate medical education, combining board certification pathways such as infectious disease and clinical microbiology, and adding infectious disease care as a qualifying speciality for the National Health Service Corps.