The pandemic has made us aware of the central role that healthcare can abruptly assume. It is therefore essential to ensure security of supply and to exploit all resources accordingly. The annual physician statistics collected by the FMH make a contribution to this.
In 2020, there were 21,594 male and 16,908 female physicians working in Switzerland – an increase of 1.6% compared to the previous year. Taking into account the workloads, the total number of physicians working in Switzerland corresponds to 33 496 full-time equivalents. This means that the volume of work available increased only marginally by 0.03%. 52.7% of physicians worked full-time in a practice, 45.7% worked in the hospital sector, and only 1.6% worked outside the two sectors. On average, significantly more women work in the hospital sector than in the practice sector. The average age of female physicians (46.4 years) and male physicians (52.7 years) was exactly 50 years in 2020 (49.8 years in 2019). In the practice sector, the physician workforce is on average ten years older than in the hospital sector (54.8 years versus 44.1 years). The age difference between the sectors is mainly due to residents who are in training in hospitals.
General internal medicine is by far the most common specialty (21.7 percent). In second place is psychiatry and psychotherapy, followed by pediatrics and adolescent medicine and gynecology and obstetrics. Overall, however, the proportion of general practitioners and pediatricians (specialties: general internal medicine, pediatrics and adolescent medicine, and general practitioners) has been declining since 2013.
Still increasing dependence on foreign physicians
14,386 of the physicians working in Switzerland did not complete and graduate from medical school in Switzerland. Compared with the previous year, this represents an increase of 1.1% to 37.4%. Most foreign medical professionals come from Germany (52.6%), followed by Italy (9.1%), France (7.1%) and Austria (6.0%).
The current situation in particular has shown the central importance of security of supply in the healthcare system. To date, well-trained physicians have helped ensure high-quality patient care. Measures such as the creation of medical study places and the maintenance of good working conditions – not least in comparison with our neighboring countries – are of the utmost importance for Switzerland.
Source: “FMH Physician Statistics 2020: Caring for Resources”, 24.03.2021, FMH
