In 2012, there were 51,967 medical practitioners who were fellows of medical colleges (Table 4.52). Just over one-third (17,957or 34.6%) were female.
Overall new fellows represented 6.0% of all college fellows. This proportion varied greatly across specialties, with the largest proportions of new fellows in emergency medicine (10.1%), followed by anaesthesia - pain medicine (7.9%) and intensive care medicine (7.7%).
Medical specialty | Fellows | Females | Proportion female (%) | New fellows 2012 | New fellows as a proportion of all fellows (%) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
(a) Includes fellows/new fellows currently living overseas. Source: Medical colleges | |||||
Addiction medicine | 182 | 44 | 24.2 | 4 | 2.2 |
Adult medicine | 7,754 | 2,218 | 28.6 | 456 | 5.9 |
Anaesthesia | 3,815 | 1,027 | 26.9 | 229 | 6.0 |
Anaesthesia - pain medicine | 239 | 49 | 20.5 | 19 | 7.9 |
Dermatology | 491 | 195 | 39.7 | 20 | 4.1 |
Emergency medicine | 1,340 | 415 | 31.0 | 135 | 10.1 |
General practice - RACGP | (a)17,822 | (a)8,161 | 45.8 | (b)1,216 | 6.8 |
General practice - ACRRM | 1,443 | 300 | 20.8 | 63 | 4.4 |
Intensive care | 640 | 101 | 15.8 | 63 | 7.7 |
Medical administration | 485 | 128 | 26.4 | 19 | 3.9 |
Obstetrics and gynaecology | 1,559 | 603 | 38.7 | 81 | 5.2 |
Occupational and environmental medicine | 252 | 48 | 19.0 | 4 | 1.6 |
Ophthalmology | 822 | 158 | 19.2 | 38 | 4.6 |
Paediatrics | 2,325 | 1,089 | 46.8 | 146 | 6.7 |
Palliative medicine | 261 | 124 | 47.5 | 16 | 6.1 |
Pathology | 1,263 | 512 | 40.5 | 70 | 5.5 |
Pathology and RACP (jointly) | 410 | 150 | 36.6 | 29 | 7.1 |
Psychiatry | 3,073 | 1,176 | 38.3 | 136 | 4.4 |
Public health medicine | 571 | 207 | 36.3 | 7 | 1.2 |
Radiation oncology | 314 | 126 | 40.1 | 20 | 6.4 |
Radiodiagnosis | 1,741 | 436 | 25.0 | 115 | 6.6 |
Rehabilitation medicine | 398 | 172 | 43.2 | 26 | 6.5 |
Sexual health medicine | 145 | 77 | 53.1 | 3 | 2.1 |
Sport and exercise medicine | (a)155 | (a)30 | 19.4 | 2 | 3.2 |
Surgery | 4,467 | 411 | 9.2 | 217 | 4.9 |
Total | 51,967 | 17,957 | 34.6 | 3,134 | 6.0 |
Overall, the distribution of fellows across states and territories approximately mirrors the distribution of the population as a whole (Table 4.53).
Medical specialty | NSW | Vic | Qld | SA | WA | Tas | NT | ACT | Aust |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(a) Includes the New Zealand and Hong Kong new fellows. Source: Medical colleges | |||||||||
Addiction medicine | 67 | 28 | 24 | 13 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 1 | (b)182 |
Adult medicine | 2,090 | 1,870 | 1,074 | 526 | 528 | 137 | 47 | 130 | (b)7,754 |
Anaesthesia | 1,181 | 947 | 787 | 322 | 384 | 105 | 26 | 63 | 3,815 |
Anaesthesia - pain medicine | 83 | 45 | 45 | 30 | 27 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 239 |
Dermatology | 192 | 126 | 84 | 43 | 42 | 0 | 0 | 0 | (c)487 |
Emergency medicine | 351 | 371 | 295 | 86 | 157 | 36 | 20 | 24 | 1,340 |
General practice - RACGP | 4,703 | 3,974 | 3,575 | 1,336 | 1,679 | 444 | 173 | 314 | 16,198 |
General practice - ACRRM | 400 | 235 | 405 | 179 | 117 | 34 | 30 | 23 | (d)1,423 |
Intensive care | 205 | 146 | 142 | 53 | 51 | 17 | 7 | 19 | 640 |
Medical administration(a) | 116 | 97 | 100 | 26 | 34 | 7 | 6 | 26 | 412 |
Obstetrics and gynaecology | 498 | 423 | 300 | 123 | 134 | 35 | 15 | 31 | 1,559 |
Occupational and environmental medicine | 79 | 57 | 37 | 25 | 33 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 252 |
Ophthalmology | 320 | 201 | 142 | 62 | 67 | 15 | 5 | 10 | 822 |
Paediatrics | 617 | 477 | 334 | 143 | 204 | 28 | 20 | 33 | (b)2,325 |
Palliative medicine | 78 | 44 | 40 | 15 | 17 | 11 | 2 | 3 | (b)261 |
Pathology | 449 | 272 | 239 | 104 | 134 | 29 | 6 | 30 | 1,263 |
Pathology and RACP (jointly) | 150 | 101 | 65 | 29 | 45 | 7 | 1 | 12 | 410 |
Psychiatry | 944 | 883 | 575 | 279 | 270 | 52 | 17 | 53 | 3,073 |
Public health medicine | 188 | 103 | 89 | 42 | 60 | 19 | 27 | 43 | 571 |
Radiation oncology | 112 | 88 | 62 | 19 | 19 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 314 |
Radiodiagnosis | 537 | 457 | 317 | 148 | 201 | 38 | 4 | 39 | 1,741 |
Rehabilitation medicine | 194 | 109 | 42 | 29 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 398 |
Sexual health medicine | 55 | 25 | 17 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 6 | (b)145 |
Sport and exercise medicine | 46 | 36 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 124 |
Surgery | 1,488 | 1,192 | 825 | 387 | 388 | 87 | 27 | 73 | 4,467 |
Total | 15,143 | 12,307 | 9,628 | 4,029 | 4,629 | 1,137 | 441 | 972 | (b)50,215 |
Proportion of total (%) | 30.2 | 24.5 | 19.2 | 8.0 | 9.2 | 2.3 | 0.9 | 1.9 | 100.0 |
Population proportion (%) | 32.0 | 24.8 | 20.1 | 7.2 | 10.8 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 100.0 |
The distribution of female fellows by states and territories followed a similar pattern to the distribution of all fellows (Table 4.54).
Medical specialty | NSW | Vic | Qld | SA | WA | Tas | NT | ACT | Aust |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(a) Australian totals differ from the sum of state/territory numbers due to the inclusion of new fellows who completed their training overseas. source: medical colleges | |||||||||
Addiction medicine | 21 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | (a)44 |
Adult medicine | 605 | 592 | 289 | 136 | 122 | 37 | 15 | 42 | (a)2,218 |
Anaesthesia | 314 | 254 | 217 | 76 | 110 | 29 | 7 | 20 | (b)1,027 |
Anaesthesia - pain medicine | 20 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 49 |
Dermatology | 81 | 52 | 30 | 21 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | (c)193 |
Emergency medicine | 115 | 121 | 84 | 25 | 42 | 14 | 8 | 6 | 415 |
General practice - RACGP | 2,184 | 1,870 | 1,599 | 583 | 766 | 224 | 103 | 173 | 7,502 |
General practice - ACRRM | 74 | 44 | 95 | 40 | 21 | 9 | 10 | 5 | (d)298 |
Intensive care | 40 | 22 | 19 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 101 |
Medical administration | 36 | 26 | 20 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 110 |
Obstetrics and gynaecology | 174 | 184 | 107 | 49 | 54 | 14 | 9 | 12 | 603 |
Occupational and environmental medicine | 21 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 48 |
Ophthalmology | 67 | 48 | 18 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 158 |
Paediatrics | 280 | 246 | 145 | 54 | 99 | 8 | 13 | 16 | (a)1,089 |
Palliative medicine | 45 | 16 | 17 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | (a)124 |
Pathology | 198 | 102 | 93 | 41 | 49 | 13 | 0 | 16 | 512 |
Pathology and RACP (jointly) | 60 | 38 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 150 |
Psychiatry | 346 | 334 | 223 | 112 | 104 | 21 | 11 | 25 | 1,176 |
Public health medicine | 69 | 34 | 35 | 14 | 22 | 3 | 14 | 16 | 207 |
Radiation oncology | 51 | 33 | 27 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 126 |
Radiodiagnosis | 131 | 120 | 68 | 48 | 52 | 9 | 1 | 7 | 436 |
Rehabilitation medicine | 83 | 49 | 18 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 172 |
Sexual health medicine | 26 | 16 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 4 | (a)77 |
Sport and exercise medicine | 12 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 25 |
Surgery | 126 | 130 | 68 | 40 | 35 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 411 |
Total | 5,179 | 4,365 | 3,218 | 1,310 | 1,565 | 406 | 201 | 374 | 17,271 |
Proportion of female fellows (%) | 30.0 | 25.3 | 18.6 | 7.6 | 9.1 | 2.4 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 100.0 |
Fellows by Subspecialty – Selected Colleges
Data on fellows for pathology, physician (adult medicine and paediatric and child health) and surgical subspecialties are presented in Table 4.55 to Table 4.58.
Pathology Subspecialties
Subspecialty | Fellows | Female fellows | Proportion female (%) |
---|---|---|---|
Source: RCPA | |||
Anatomical pathology | 756 | 340 | 45.0 |
Chemical pathology | 75 | 24 | 32.0 |
Forensic pathology | 42 | 14 | 33.3 |
General pathology | 73 | 14 | 19.2 |
Genetic pathology | 17 | 6 | 35.3 |
Haematology | 420 | 161 | 38.3 |
Immunopathology | 98 | 29 | 29.6 |
Microbiology | 191 | 74 | 38.7 |
Oral and maxillofacial pathology | 1 | 0 | 0.0 |
Total | 1,673 | 662 | 39.6 |
Physician Adult Medicine Subspecialties
Subspecialty | Fellows | Female fellows | Proportion female (%) |
---|---|---|---|
(a) Figures for respiratory and sleep include fellows who completed training in thoracic medicine and thoracic and sleep medicine. Source: RACP | |||
Cardiology | 887 | 143 | 16.1 |
Clinical genetics | 7 | 4 | 57.1 |
Endocrinology | 401 | 226 | 56.4 |
Gastroenterology and hepatology | 529 | 130 | 24.6 |
General medicine | 546 | 143 | 26.2 |
Geriatric medicine | 413 | 213 | 51.6 |
Haematology | 328 | 118 | 36.0 |
Infectious diseases | 270 | 124 | 45.9 |
Medical oncology | 419 | 199 | 47.5 |
Nephrology | 313 | 106 | 33.9 |
Neurology | 317 | 88 | 27.8 |
Nuclear medicine | 117 | 34 | 29.1 |
Palliative medicine | 57 | 41 | 71.9 |
Respiratory and sleep medicine(a) | 398 | 107 | 26.9 |
Rheumatology | 233 | 105 | 45.1 |
Total(b) | 7,754 | 2,218 | 28.6 |
Physician Paediatric Subspecialties
Subspecialty | Fellows | Female fellows | Proportion female (%) |
---|---|---|---|
(a) The totals listed are not cumulative totals of the numbers presented above, as the list of specialties is not exhaustive, and there are several fellows who were admitted to fellowship when record-keeping practices did not denote a specialty. Source: RACP | |||
Cardiology | 24 | 6 | 25.0 |
Clinical genetics | 27 | 17 | 63.0 |
Community child health | 27 | 24 | 88.9 |
General paediatrics | 649 | 346 | 53.3 |
Medical oncology | 34 | 16 | 47.1 |
Neonatal/perinatal medicine | 97 | 53 | 54.6 |
Nephrology | 16 | 8 | 50.0 |
Neurology | 27 | 13 | 48.1 |
Paediatric emergency medicine | 47 | 24 | 51.1 |
Palliative medicine | 2 | 2 | 100.0 |
Total(a) | 2,325 | 1,089 | 46.8 |
Surgical Subspecialties
Subspecialty | Fellows | Female fellows | Proportion female (%) |
---|---|---|---|
Source: RACS | |||
Cardiothoracic surgery | 169 | 10 | 5.9 |
General surgery | 1,502 | 190 | 12.6 |
Neurosurgery | 209 | 22 | 10.5 |
Orthopaedic surgery | 1,163 | 36 | 3.1 |
Otolaryngology, head and neck surgery | 420 | 44 | 10.5 |
Paediatric surgery | 88 | 21 | 23.9 |
Plastic and reconstructive surgery | 384 | 46 | 12.0 |
Urology | 358 | 27 | 7.5 |
Vascular surgery | 174 | 15 | 8.6 |
Total | 4,467 | 411 | 9.2 |