Featured Articles: Monthly Infographic

Nathan, Naveen MD

Author Information

Attribution: The Infographic is composed by Naveen Nathan MD.

The author declares no conflict of interest.

Anesthesia & Analgesia | DOI: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000006774 Metrics

Worldwide the need for anesthesia services has grown over time. The value for anesthesia services has also been acutely recognized in the wake of a viral pandemic. It is instructive to observe trends in the changing demographics of the anesthesia care workforce and investigate whether its magnitude meets the clinical demand for patients. Simkin et al used health administrative data from the Canadian Institute of Health Information to answer these questions. They reviewed available data from 1996 to 2018. Across this time frame, the anesthesia workforce grew 1.8-fold to 3681 physicians. The average age of the workforce increased by 2.3 years and the annual retirement rate was 3%. The workforce has become more gender balanced but remains predominantly male. Interestingly, family practice physicians who acquired additional training to provide anesthesia services accounted for the majority of care in rural areas of Canada. Their attrition rate was notably high. Although the anesthesia workforce in Canada grew substantially over 22 years, it continues to rely heavily on international medical graduates and family practice physicians. Workforce planning is needed to support the alignment of clinical services with community needs. The reader is strongly encouraged to review the cited article for an in-depth understanding of the concepts summarized in this infographic.

1. Simkin S, et al. The physician anesthesia workforce in Canada from 1996 to 2018: A longitudinal analysis of health administrative data. Anesth Analg. 2023;137:1128–1134. Copyright © 2023 International Anesthesia Research Society