I was reading through the New York Times Health section today, and I came across some provocative statistics buried deep in one of their articles. Originally sourced from the Center for Studying Health System Change, a report was published in August 2007 describing some of the changes in the landscape of physician demographics.
Interestingly, there has been a decline in the number of physicians taking on solo/small group practice - overall, about an 8% decline from 1997 to 2005. In 2005, only 32.5% of all physicians were in solo or two-person practices. The percentages get even smaller when you look at specific age groups; for physicians under the age of 40, only 24.8% are in one- or two-person practices.
I suppose it's not that surprising after all. Many of our classmates and colleagues congratulated Dr. Weintraub and me when we declared our intentions to hang up our shingle. They admitted that they were impressed by our bravery and courage (which is a funny thing to hear from other physicians and surgeons, all of whom are pretty unflappable and heroic folks); nearly all of our friends had opted to join an academic hospital-based practice or Kaiser-type entity, both great options here in the Bay Area. There is a lot to be said for the ease of mind that comes with a built-in patient base and referral system, guaranteed salary, and benefits.
But here at Duet, we are happy to continue to buck the trend - a two person private practice, plastic surgeons that work together as a team, two female plastic surgeons... Perhaps one of a kind, and certainly here to stay.
