Are you looking for a psychiatric job? With the growing demand, MedCare Staffing would like to talk with you.
The U.S. needs more psychiatrists, especially in some areas of the country. Specialized psychiatrist jobs are often harder to fill, including but not limited to pediatric and adolescent psychiatrists and geriatric psychiatrists, according to a report from the University of Michigan written in December of 2018.
Why is the demand so high?
The report from the University of Michigan noted that the Affordable Care Act is behind this shortage as more people than before have access to behavioral health services.
Other research articles have shown this trend to be real. Merritt Hawkins’ 2018 review of physician recruiting trends and starting salaries have noted that psychiatrists have been ranked among the most-requested types of physicians searches, and called the shortage of psychiatrists “an escalating crisis.” And a 2017 report on psychiatric professionals shortage from the National Council for Behavioral Health (NCBH) noted that 77 percent of counties are found to be drastically underserved by psychiatrists.
These problems we’re seeing in patient access to behavioral health services are compounded by the fact that around 40 percent of all practicing psychiatrists tend to work in private practice now and typically only accept cash payments. This change in practice puts their services out of reach for many patients, even if they are in an area with a high number of psychiatrists.
Demand for child and adolescent psychiatrists growing
Adult psychiatrists are always in demand and experts have been predicting that the continuous shortage of adolescent and child psychiatrists is expected to grow at an even more critical rate.
A report from The University of Michigan discovered that 9,956 adolescent and child psychiatrists were practicing in the United States as of May 2018, according to the latest data from the American Medical Association Masterfile. Much like other psychiatrists, they were more likely to cluster in highly populated areas, such as parts of the West Coast and the Northeastern U.S.
A map on the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) shows a severe shortage in care provided; in these areas, there are 17 or fewer adolescent and child psychiatrists per every 100,00 children under the age of 18.
“Between the oceans, there are not many,” says Kim, who headed the AACAP Task Force on Work-Force Needs from 1999-2001 and served on a steering committee that addressed workforce issues afterward. This means that children who live in rural areas rather than on the more heavily populated coastal cities, along with those who live in lower socio-economic areas, have significantly less access to proper psychiatric care.
Both geriatric and addiction psychiatrists are in high demand currently.
The study authors from the University of Michigan wrote that “Given the current and projected psychiatrist shortages, these high-demand populations will suffer from the uneven geographical distribution of the few specialized psychiatrists in the country”
Solving the psychiatrist shortage
What can we do to solve the growing shortage of psychiatrists and limited access to proper mental health services? Most experts agree that there is not one single solution to this problem.
Increasing the number of new psychiatrists that are being trained, along with adding more residency training positions, will help. Being able to honestly address reimbursement issues that tend to push psychiatrists to move to a practice that is cash-only, or not accepting Medicaid would help to address this issue. Another requirement is to come up with ways in which psychiatric care can be increased in underserved areas.
For now, hospitals and practices are searching for psychiatrists to fill short-term locum tenens assignments and permanent positions. And the outlook for psychiatric jobs remains strong.
Do you have any availability in your schedule? MedCare Staffing is actively recruiting psychiatrists across the nation. We have short-term and long-term locum tenens, as well as permanent opportunities. Feel free to reach out to us anytime! We would consider it an honor to partner with you.
Who are we? MedCare Staffing is a small, veteran-owned, family-oriented team. We start every day with gratitude because we LOVE what we do! We are a team on a mission to make a positive difference in the lives of our clients and providers.
What we do: We place Physicians & Advanced Practitioners in Locum Tenens, Contract Positions and Permanent Jobs
To contact MedCare Staffing call 888.474.3380 or visit or website by clicking here!
