Physicians' attitudes about involvement in lethal injection for capital punishment

BACKGROUND: Physicians could play various roles in carrying out capital punishment via lethal injection. Medical societies like the American Medical Association (AMA) and American College of Physicians have established which roles are acceptable and which are disallowed. No one has explored physicians' attitudes toward their potential roles in this process. METHODS: We surveyed physicians about how acceptable it was for physicians to engage in 8 actions disallowed by the AMA and 4 allowed actions involving lethal injection. Questions assessing attitudes toward capital punishment and assisted suicide were included. The impact of attitudinal and demographic variables on the number of disallowed actions deemed acceptable was analyzed via analysis of variance and multiple logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Four hundred eighty-two physicians (51%) returned questionnaires. Eighty percent indicated that at least 1 of the disallowed actions was acceptable, 53% indicated that 5 or more were acceptable, and 34% approved all 8 disallowed actions. The percentage of respondents approving of disallowed actions varied from 43% for injecting lethal drugs to 74% for determining when death occurred. All 4 allowed actions were deemed acceptable by the majority of respondents. Favoring the death penalty (P<.001) and the acceptance of assisted suicide (P<.001) were associated with an increased number of disallowed actions that were deemed acceptable. CONCLUSIONS: Despite medical society policies, the majority of physicians surveyed approved of most disallowed actions involving capital punishment, indicating that they believed it is acceptable in some circumstances for physicians to kill individuals against their wishes. It is possible that the lack of stigmatization by colleagues allows physicians to engage in such practices. Arch Intern Med. 2000;160:2912-2916     

Prosecutors and end-of-life decision making.

OBJECTIVE: To examine personal beliefs and professional behavior of state criminal prosecutors toward end-of-life decisions. DESIGN: Mail survey. SETTING: District attorney offices nationwide. PARTICIPANTS: All prosecuting attorneys who are members of the National District Attorneys Association. A total of 2844 surveys were mailed with 2 follow-up mailings at 6-week intervals; 761 surveys were returned for a response rate of 26.8%. The majority of respondents were white men, Protestant, and served in rural areas. INTERVENTIONS: None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: On the basis of 4 case scenarios, (1) professional behavior as determined by respondents' willingness to prosecute and what criminal charges they would seek; and (2) personal beliefs as determined by whether prosecutors believed the physicians' actions were morally wrong and whether they would want the same action taken if they were in the patient's condition. RESULTS: Most respondents would not seek prosecution in 3 of the 4 cases. In the fourth case, involving physician-assisted suicide, only about one third of the respondents said that they definitely would prosecute. Those who would prosecute would most often seek a charge of criminal homicide. A majority of respondents believed that the physicians' actions were morally correct in each of the 4 cases and would want the same action taken if they were in the patient's position. There was a strong correlation between personal beliefs and professional behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: A large majority of responding prosecutors were unwilling to prosecute physicians in cases that clearly fall within currently accepted legal and professional boundaries. In the case of physician-assisted suicide, results reflected a surprisingly large professional unwillingness to prosecute and an even greater personal acceptance of physician-assisted suicide.     

Physicians’ preferences for active-controlled versus placebo-controlled trials of new antihypertensive drugs

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate physicians' preferences for referring patients to, and using information from, active-controlled trials (ACTs) versus placebo-controlled trials (PCTs) of new antihypertensive drugs. DESIGN AND SETTING: Nationwide mailed survey, with telephone contact of nonresponders to assess nonresponse bias. PARTICIPANTS: One thousand two hundred primary care physicians randomly selected from the American Medical Association's Master File. Of 1,154 physicians eligible to respond, 651 (56.4%) returned completed questionnaires. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: We measured physicians' stated willingness to encourage hypertensive patients to enroll in ACTs and PCTs of new antihypertensive drugs, their views of the relative merits of ACTs versus PCTs, their stated willingness to prescribe new drugs tested in ACTs or PCTs, and their views regarding the overall justifiability of the 2 designs. Physicians were significantly more likely to indicate they would encourage their patients to enroll in ACTs than in PCTs (P <.0001). Physicians thought ACTs provided more valuable information for their practices, were more likely to lead to a public health benefit, offered enrolled patients greater opportunity for personal benefit, and were less likely to expose enrolled patients to unnecessary risks (all P <.0001). Physicians were more likely to prescribe new drugs that had been compared in ACTs (P <.0001), and viewed ACTs as a more justifiable method for testing new antihypertensive drugs (P <.0001). There was no evidence of nonresponse bias for these main results. CONCLUSIONS: Although PCTs remain the standard method for testing new antihypertensive drugs, physicians strongly prefer ACTs. Using ACTs to test new antihypertensive drugs may enhance the efficiency of patient recruitment and more strongly influence physicians' prescribing practices.     

Twenty years beyond medical school: physicians' attitudes toward death and terminally ill patients.

BACKGROUND: In response to consumer demands and recent changes in health care, the American Medical Association and the Association of American Medical Colleges have expressed concern about how physicians relate to patients, especially those who are seriously ill. OBJECTIVE: To determine the impact of 20 years of medical practice on the attitudes of physicians toward terminally ill patients and their families. METHODS: Data were gathered from questionnaires mailed in 1976 and again in 1996 to physicians who graduated from medical school between 1972 and 1975. RESULTS: Responses were received from 71% and 63% of the 1664 and 1109 physicians surveyed in 1976 and 1996, respectively. Using a t test for paired variables, statistically significant differences were noted for physicians' responses to all of the 11 Likert-type attitudinal statements on death and terminally ill patients and their families. Physicians in 1996 were more willing to inform terminally ill patients of their prognosis and in general seemed more confident with dying patients than they were in 1976. CONCLUSIONS: After 2 decades of practicing medicine, physicians' attitudes toward terminally ill patients seem to have changed; physicians appear to be more open to communicating with terminally ill patients and their families on issues concerning death and dying.     

Single-payer national health insurance. Physicians' views

BACKGROUND: Forty-one million Americans have no health insurance and, despite the growth of managed care, medical costs are again increasing rapidly. One proposed solution is a single-payer health care financing system with universal coverage. Yet, physicians' views of such a system have not been well studied. METHODS: We surveyed a random sample of physicians (from the American Medical Association Masterfile) in Massachusetts, regarding their views on a single-payer health care financing system and other financing and physician work-life issues that such a system might affect. RESULTS: Of 1787 physicians, 904 (50.6%) responded to our survey. When asked which structure would provide the best care for the most people for a fixed amount of money, 63.5% of physicians chose a single-payer system; 10.7%, managed care; and 25.8%, a fee-for-service system. Only 51.9% believed that most physician colleagues would support a single-payer system. Most respondents would give up income to reduce paperwork, agree that it is government's responsibility to ensure the provision of medical care, believe that insurance firms should not play a major role in health care delivery, and would prefer to work under a salary system. CONCLUSIONS: Most physicians in Massachusetts, a state with a high managed care penetration, believe that single-payer financing of health care with universal coverage would provide the best care for the most people, compared with a managed care or fee-for-service system. Physicians' advocacy of single-payer national health insurance could catalyze a renewed push for its adoption.     

Primary care physician preferences regarding spiritual behavior in medical practice

BACKGROUND: Knowledge of physician attitudes and preferences regarding religion and spirituality in the medical encounter is limited by the nonspecific questions asked in previous studies and by the omission of specialties other than family practice. This study was designed to determine the willingness of internists and family physicians to be involved with varying degrees of spiritual behaviors in varied clinical settings. METHODS: The study was a multicenter, cross-sectional, nonrandomized design recruiting physicians from 6 teaching hospitals with sites in North Carolina, Vermont, and Florida. A self-administered survey was used to explore physicians' willingness to address religion and spirituality in the medical encounter. Data were gathered on the physicians' religiosity and spirituality and sociodemographic characteristics. RESULTS: Four hundred seventy-six physicians responded, for a response rate of 62.0%. While 84.5% of physicians thought they should be aware of patients' spirituality, most would not ask about spiritual issues unless a patient were dying. Fewer than one third of physicians would pray with patients even if they were dying. This number increased to 77.1% if a patient requested physician prayer. Family practitioners were more likely to take a spiritual history than general internists. CONCLUSIONS: Most primary care physicians surveyed would not initiate any involvement with patients' spirituality in the medical encounter except for the clinical setting of dying. If a patient requests involvement, however, most physicians express a willingness to comply, even if the request involves prayer.     

Physicians' knowledge of prescribing for the elderly. A study of primary care physicians in Pennsylvania

The 143 physicians who returned to Temple University Medical School a questionnaire on knowledge of prescribing for the elderly constituted 25% of a stratified random sample of general practitioners (GPs), family practitioners (FPs), and practitioners in internal medicine (IMs) reimbursed under Medicare in Pennsylvania in 1979. The mean score on the 23-item drug questionnaire was significantly lower (P less than .05) than the score deemed adequate by a panel of six experts in the field. Five variables, identified by survey questions, were positively associated with physicians' test scores: importance of professional meetings, perception of need for continuing medical education, board eligibility/certification, group practice, and a practice in which the elderly constitute 25 to 49% of all patients. Two variables were negatively associated: number of years since date of licensure and the importance of drug advertisements. Respondents and nonrespondents were compared on nine variables for which American Medical Association (AMA), American Osteopathic Association (AOA), or Blue Shield data were available. Pennsylvania graduates were significantly overrepresented in the respondent group. The only other significant difference found was in field of practice, where findings differed by source of information. There was no significant difference in mean scores of early and late respondents. The research findings support those of three previous studies, not limited to the elderly, which found prescribing knowledge inadequate. They suggest the need for examining/improving the opportunities for medical students and physicians to increase their knowledge of geriatric pharmacology.     

The influence of physician race, age, and gender on physician attitudes toward advance care directives and preferences for end-of-life decision-making.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether physicians' preferences for end-of-life decision-making differ between blacks and whites in the same pattern as patient preferences, with blacks being more likely than whites to prefer life-prolonging treatments. DESIGN: A mailed survey. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: American Medical Association (AMA) and National Medical Association (NMA) databases. To enrich the sample of black physicians, we targeted physicians in the AMA database practicing in high minority area zip codes and graduates of the traditionally black medical schools. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Self-reported physician attitudes toward end-of-life decision-making and preference of treatment for themselves in persistent vegetative state or organic brain disease compared by race, controlling for age and gender. RESULTS: The 502 physicians (28%) who returned the questionnaire included 280 white and 157 black physicians. With regard to attitudes toward patient care, 58% of white physicians agreed that tube-feeding in terminally ill patients is "heroic," but only 28 % of black physicians agreed with the statement (P < .001). White physicians were more likely than black physicians to find physician-assisted suicide an acceptable treatment alternative (36.6% vs 26.5% of black physicians) (P < .05). With regard to the physicians preferences for future treatment of themselves for the persistent vegetative state scenario, black physicians were more than six times more likely than white physicians to request aggressive treatments (cardiopulmonary resuscitation, mechanical ventilation, or artificial feeding) for themselves (15.4% vs 2.5%) (P < .001). White physicians were almost three times as likely to want physician-assisted suicide (29.3% vs 11.8%) (P < .001) in this scenario. For a state of brain damage with no terminal illness, the majority of all physicians did not want aggressive treatment, but black physicians were nearly five times more likely than white physicians (23.0% vs 5.0%) (P < .001) to request these treatments. White physicians, on the other hand, were more than twice as likely to request physician-assisted suicide (22.5% vs 9.9%), P < .001 in this scenario. CONCLUSIONS: Physicians preferences for end-of-life treatment follow the same pattern by race as patient preferences, making it unlikely that low socioeconomic status or lack of familiarity with treatments account for the difference. Self-denoted race may be a surrogate marker for other, as yet undefined, factors. The full spectrum of treatment preferences should be considered in development of guidelines for end-of-life treatment in our diverse society.     

Barriers to translating emerging genetic research on smoking into clinical practice

OBJECTIVE: Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death nationally. Emerging research may lead to improved smoking cessation treatment options, including tailoring treatment by genotype. Our objective was to assess primary care physicians' attitudes toward new genetic-based approaches to smoking treatment. DESIGN AND SETTING: A 2002 national survey of primary care physicians. Respondents were randomly assigned a survey including 1 of 2 scenarios: a scenario in which a new test to tailor smoking treatment was described as a "genetic" test or one in which the new test was described as a "serum protein" test. PARTICIPANTS: The study sample was randomly drawn from all U.S. primary care physicians in the American Medical Association Masterfile (e.g., those with a primary specialty of internal medicine, family practice, or general practice). Of 2,000 sampled physicians, 1,120 responded, yielding a response rate of 62.3%. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Controlling for physician and practice characteristics, describing a new test as "genetic" resulted in a regression-adjusted mean adoption score of 73.5, compared to a score of 82.5 for a nongenetic test, reflecting an 11% reduction in physicians' likelihood of offering such a test to their patients. CONCLUSIONS: Merely describing a new test to tailor smoking treatment as "genetic" poses a significant barrier to physician adoption. Considering national estimates of those who smoke on a daily basis, this 11% reduction in adoption scores would translate into 3.9 million smokers who would not be offered a new genetic-based treatment for smoking. While emerging genetic research may lead to improved smoking treatment, the potential of novel interventions will likely go unrealized unless barriers to clinical integration are addressed.     

End-of-life decision making in Europe and Australia: a physician survey

BACKGROUND: The frequencies with which physicians make different medical end-of-life decisions (ELDs) may differ between countries, but comparison between countries has been difficult owing to the use of dissimilar research methods. METHODS: A written questionnaire was sent to a random sample of physicians from 9 specialties in 6 European countries and Australia to investigate possible differences in the frequencies of physicians' willingness to perform ELDs and to identify predicting factors. Response rates ranged from 39% to 68% (N = 10 139). Using hypothetical cases, physicians were asked whether they would (probably) make each of 4 ELDs. RESULTS: In all the countries, 75% to 99% of physicians would withhold chemotherapy or intensify symptom treatment at the request of a patient with terminal cancer. In most cases, more than half of all physicians would also be willing to deeply sedate such a patient until death. However, there was generally less willingness to administer drugs with the explicit intention of hastening death at the request of the patient. The most important predictor of ELDs was a request from a patient with decisional capacity (odds ratio, 2.1-140.0). Shorter patient life expectancy and uncontrollable pain were weaker predictors but were more stable across countries and across the various ELDs (odds ratios, 1.1-2.4 and 0.9-2.4, respectively). CONCLUSION: Cultural and legal factors seem to influence the frequencies of different ELDs and the strength of their determinants across countries, but they do not change the essence of decision making.     

The "Hassle Factor": what motivates physicians to manipulate reimbursement rules?

BACKGROUND: Some physicians are willing to misrepresent clinical information to insurance companies to circumvent appeals processes. Whether characteristics of appeals processes affect the likelihood of misrepresentation is unknown. This study sought to determine the relationship between the likelihood of a successful appeal, appeals process length, and severity of the health condition and physicians' willingness to sanction deception. METHODS: A random sample of 1617 physicians was surveyed by mail to assess their willingness to accept an insurance company restriction, to appeal the restriction, or to misrepresent the facts to an insurance company to obtain coverage for a patient. RESULTS: Most respondents would appeal (77%) rather than accept (12%) or misrepresent (11%) regarding a restriction on medically necessary care. Physicians' decisions were related to the likelihood of a successful appeal (chi(2) = 7.56; P =.02), the appeals process length (chi(2) = 8.53; P =.01), and the severity of the medical condition (chi(2) = 71.10; P<.001). A small but significantly larger number of physicians chose to misrepresent the facts to an insurer as the appeals process became more cumbersome. Among physicians asked about severe angina, their decisions were particularly affected by the hassle associated with appealing, being more likely to choose to misrepresent the facts to the insurer than to appeal as the hassle increased. CONCLUSIONS: Physicians are more willing to sanction deception when the appeals process is longer, the likelihood of a successful appeal is lower, and the health condition is more severe. Changes in the difficulty of appeals processes may ease the tensions physicians face regarding patient advocacy and honesty.     

Evolution of Massachusetts physician attitudes, knowledge, and experience regarding the use of antiretrovirals for HIV prevention

The Center for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) 004 and Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Initiative (iPrEx) studies demonstrated that topical or oral chemoprophylaxis could decrease HIV transmission. Yet to have an appreciable public health impact, physicians will need to be educated about these new HIV prevention modalities. Massachusetts physicians were recruited via e-mail to complete an online survey of their knowledge and use of HIV prevention interventions. Data were collected before (July-December, 2010) (n=178) and after (December, 2010-April, 2011) (n=115) the release of iPrEx data. Over the two time intervals, knowledge of oral PrEP significantly increased (79% to 92%, p<0.01), whereas knowledge about topical microbicides was already high (89% pre-iPrEx). Post-iPrEx, specialists were more knowledgeable about oral PrEP (p<0.01) and topical microbicides (p<0.001) than generalists. The majority of the respondents would prefer to prescribe topical microbicides (75%) than oral PrEP (25%; p<0.001), primarily because they perceived fewer side effects (95%). Respondents indicated that PrEP should be available if it were a highly effective, daily pill; however, ongoing concerns included: potential drug resistance (93%), decreased funds for other forms of HIV prevention (88%), medication side effects (83%), and limited data regarding PrEP's clinical efficacy (75%). Participants indicated that formal CDC guidelines would have the greatest impact on their willingness to prescribe PrEP (96%). Among Massachusetts physicians sampled, chemoprophylaxis knowledge was high, but current experience was limited. Although topical gel was preferred, responses suggest a willingness to adapt practices pending additional efficacy data and further guidance from normative bodies. Educational programs aimed at incorporating antiretroviral chemoprophylaxis into physicians' HIV prevention practices are warranted.     

Cardiologists' and emergency physicians' perspectives on and knowledge of reperfusion guidelines pertaining to ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction

We sought to determine U.S. physicians' knowledge and perspectives regarding the 2004 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guidelines for management of patients who have ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). We invited 45,998 physicians from the American Medical Association's roster to take an Internet survey of U.S. cardiologists and emergency physicians who were hospital-based or who had hospital-admitting privileges. To represent individual and combined populations, data were weighted on the basis of years in practice, sex, and geographic region. Of 505 cardiologists and 509 emergency physicians who completed the survey, 90% worked in an urban or suburban setting and 82% at hospitals with a cardiac catheterization laboratory. Sampling error was +/-3.4%. Most respondents (61%) believed that overall myocardial infarction treatment needed a "great deal" or "fair amount" of improvement; 24% were "somewhat" or "not at all" familiar with the guidelines. Although 84% knew the recommended STEMI treatments for a patient who presents within 3 hours of symptom onset without contraindications to reperfusion or delay to invasive treatment, only 11% knew that there is no preferred approach. If percutaneous coronary intervention proved impossible within 90 minutes of presentation, 21% reported that eligible patients--assuming early presentation, confirmed STEMI diagnosis, and no high-risk STEMI or contraindications to fibrinolysis--would "rarely" or "never" receive guideline-recommended fibrinolysis. Many cardiologists and emergency physicians are unfamiliar with the guidelines and with the uncertainty that surrounds therapeutic approaches, which suggests the need for increased education on effective treatments to expedite myocardial reperfusion in STEMI.     

Gastroenterology consultations from the internal medicine physician’s perspective

Objective:To examine the patterns of use of gastroenterology consultations by internal medicine physicians. Design:A survey of licensed physicians in the three metropolitan areas in Arizona where gastroenterologists are available. The physicians were asked how likely they were to obtain gastroenterology consultations for a variety of different gastrointestinal illnesses. Comparisons between groups were done with chi-square analysis. Measurements and main results:Forty-six percent of the physicians responded. The majority of respondents believed that esophagogastroduodenoscopy and colonoscopy should be available without gastroenterology consultation (65% and 64%, respectively). Physicians in practice more than ten years were less prone to request consultations for gastrointestinal complaints that were likely to result in endoscopic procedures, such as the diagnosis of peptic ulcer disease or inflammatory bowel disease, or guaiac-positive stool. Internal medicine residents were more likely to seek consultations for both endoscopic and cognitive gastrointestinal complaints. Internal medicine residents were far more likely to request gastroenterology consultations for most patients with upper-gastrointestinal-tract bleeding (91% vs. 60%, p<0.001) and lower-gastrointestinal-tract bleeding (65% vs. 22%, p<0.0001) than were internists practicing more than ten years. Conclusions:The majority of internal medicine physicians would like to order endoscopic procedures without gastroenterology consultations, much as they order radiography. Recently trained physicians are far more likely to request consultants for procedure-related problems. Received from the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center, Phoenix, Arizona. Presented at the annual meeting of the American Gastroenterological Association, May 14, 1990, San Antonio, Texas.     

Improving physicians’ knowledge of the costs of common medications and willingness to consider costs when prescribing

OBJECTIVES: To determine the effectiveness of an educational intervention designed to improve physicians' knowledge of drug costs and foster willingness to consider costs when prescribing. DESIGN: Pre- and post-intervention evaluation, using physicians as their own controls. SETTING: Four teaching hospitals, affiliated with 2 residency programs, in New York City and northern New Jersey. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred forty-six internal medicine house officers and attendings evaluated the intervention (71% response rate). Of these, 109 had also participated in a pre-intervention survey. INTERVENTION: An interactive teaching conference and distribution of a pocket guide, which listed the average wholesale prices of over 100 medications commonly used in primary care MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: We administered a written survey, before and 6 months after the intervention. Changes in attitudes and knowledge were assessed, using physicians as their own controls, with Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank tests. Eighty-five percent of respondents reported receiving the pocket guide and 46% reported attending 1 of the teaching conferences. Of those who received the pocket guide, nearly two thirds (62%) reported using it once a month or more, and more than half (54%) rated it as moderately or very useful. Compared to their baseline responses, physicians after the intervention were more likely to ask patients about their out-of-pocket drug costs (22% before vs 27% after; P <.01) and less likely to feel unaware of drug costs (78% before vs 72% after; P =.02). After the intervention, physicians also reported more concern about the cost of drugs when prescribing for patients with Medicare (58% before vs 72% after; P <.01) or no insurance (90% before vs 98% after; P <.01). Knowledge of the costs of 33 drugs was more accurate after the intervention than before (P <.05). CONCLUSION: Our brief educational intervention led to modest improvements in physicians' knowledge of medication costs and their willingness to consider costs when prescribing. Future research could incorporate more high-intensity strategies, such as outreach visits, and target specific prescribing behaviors.     

Primary care physicians’ decisions to perform flexible sigmoidoscopy

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to identify factors that influence primary care physicians' willingness to perform flexible sigmoidoscopy. MEASUREMENTS: Using a mailed questionnaire, we surveyed all 161 primary care physicians participating in a large health care system. We obtained information on training, current practice patterns, beliefs about screening for colorectal cancer, and the influence of various factors on their decision whether or not to perform flexible sigmoidoscopy in practice. MAIN RESULTS: Of the 131 physicians included in the analysis, 68 (52%) reported training in flexible sigmoidoscopy, of whom 36 (53%) were currently performing flexible sigmoidoscopy in practice. Time required to perform flexible sigmoidoscopy, availability of adequately trained staff, and availability of flexible sigmoidoscopy services provided by other clinicians were identified most often as reasons not to perform the procedure in practice. Male physicians were more likely than female physicians to report either performing flexible sigmoidoscopy or desiring to train to perform flexible sigmoidoscopy (odds ratio 2.61; 95% confidence interval 1.10, 6.23). This observed difference appears to be mediated through different weighting of decision criteria by male and female physicians. CONCLUSIONS: Approximately half of these primary care physicians trained in flexible sigmoidoscopy chose not to perform this procedure in practice. Self-perceived inefficiency in performing office-based flexible sigmoidoscopy deterred many of these physicians from providing this service for their patients.     

Physician shortage in occupational and environmental medicine

OBJECTIVE: To determine future training needs for physicians in occupational and environmental medicine based on goals established by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) for clinical practice in the field. DESIGN: A critical review of previously published estimates of the need and supply of physicians with clinical training in occupational and environmental medicine with the application of currently available data to produce revised estimates. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Need estimates reviewed from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the Graduate Medical Education National Advisory Committee (GMENAC), and the Bureau of Health Professions. Supply figures reviewed from GMENAC, the American Medical Association, the American College of Occupational Medicine, and the American Board of Preventive Medicine. Revised need figures are based on the estimated number of occupational and environmental physicians needed to provide adequate nationwide coverage as full-time academic faculty, community-based specialists, and public health physicians in state and local agencies. Revised supply estimates are based on review of available data. Need is estimated at 4600 to 6700 physicians (board-certified or eligible or with special competence in occupational and environmental medicine). Supply is estimated at 1200 to 1500. CONCLUSIONS: This review identified a deficit of 3100 to 5500 physicians in this newly evolving specialty. In order to address this shortfall in the next decade, graduate specialty training would need to be increased to about 3 to 5 times the current maximum capacity.