Study: U.S. HIV Physician Workforce in Decline
A recent study reveals that nearly 20% of United States physicians treating HIV patients plan to leave or reduce their caseload within five years, even as demand for HIV care is expected to rise.
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Nearly 20% of physicians treating HIV patients plan to leave HIV care or reduce the number of patients they treat in the next five years, according to a survey published in the November/December issue of the Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care.
Almost half of respondents (49.2%) also expect an increase in patients needing HIV care over the same period.
The study, conducted by the AIDS Education and Training Center (AETC) National Coordinating Resource Center at Rutgers School of Nursing, was carried out in two phases, from March 9, 2021, to August 27, 2021, and from March 1, 2022, to June 18, 2022. The average participant age was 49.
Researchers designed a 32-question survey for healthcare professionals and found that 10.5% of participants expect to leave HIV care within five years, while 7.3% plan to decrease the number of HIV patients they treat. Reasons include retirement (161), time spent on documentation (158), and burnout (156).
Most respondents were physicians (61%) and advanced nurse practitioners (32%).
Younger clinicians, especially those under 45, are more likely to continue or increase their HIV patient load. Black clinicians were particularly willing to increase their caseload, with 67.6% indicating they would do so, despite representing only 6.9% of respondents.
Modern medicine has transformed HIV from a fatal condition into a chronic one that can be managed by primary care providers. However, there are still approximately 30,000 new HIV cases in the United States each year. With patients living longer, the demand for care continues to grow, the study notes.
"Not only have the needs for HIV treatment evolved, but so have the biomedical options for HIV prevention," the study states. "As a result, more training for primary care clinicians—including APRNs, family medicine and internal medicine physicians, pediatricians, obstetrician-gynecologists, and other women’s health clinicians, PAs, and PharmDs—is needed."
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