Brazil more than doubled the density of physicians in the country in two decades. This is a result of the opening of new undergraduate vacancies, entry of foreign physicians, extension of activity time and postponement of retirement. This information is revealed in the “Medical Demographics 2023”.
The expansion of the density of physicians in Brazil has impacted the country and allows comparing the Brazilian reality with that of developed countries. According to the report, in the early 2000s there were 1.29 physicians per thousand inhabitants. Today, the proportion is 2.6 professionals, similar to Japan (2.6) and close to the United States (2.64) and Canada (2.77).
“One of the reasons for this increase in proportion is due to the high number of medical schools in the country. However, this does not mean that physicians are well distributed across regions. On the contrary, the scenario is one of latent concentration of doctors in the South, Southeast and Midwest regions, with a smaller number in the North and Northeast regions of the country”, says Júlia De Castilho Lázaro, founder of MitFokus, a company specialized in financial management for healthcare companies.
The opening of new training courses for doctors allowed Brazil to register a rate of 11.75 graduated doctors for every 100 thousand inhabitants in 2021, a level close to that of Finland (12.19), Switzerland (12.91) and Germany ( 12.03).
With regard to age, the study also shows that the average age of physicians in the country has been declining in recent years. In 2022, only 28% of them were over 55 years old. “The continuous insertion of young doctors in the labor market will depend on maintaining the policy of medicine courses no country of quality and that are in consonance with the current moment. For example, it is necessary for universities to use digital tools and for young people to invest in soft skills, that is, it is very important that, in addition to technical knowledge, professionals have good communication and know how to work in a team”, reinforces Júlia.
In contrast, Italy and the United States have more than half of professionals over 55 years old. This indicator is important because it allows showing whether the number of physicians undergoing training will be sufficient to replace the contingent that leaves the labor market due to the retirementdeath or for any other reason.
“This evolution will depend on the maintenance of the policy of opening courses and vacancies in medicine, which will imply a greater or lesser entry of young doctors”, reflects the specialist.
ABOUT MITFOKUS
The company, headquartered in Campinas, serves all of Brazil and offers an intelligent digital accounting platform specialized for physicians with integrated tax and financial management to avoid financial drains and tax liabilities.
