Are Medical Fields Dying?

When we talk of the medical field here in the U.S., we often think of brand-new cutting-edge technology. Things such as CT, MRI, or PET scans, have the capability of mapping out our entire body within half an hour! Even things such as Vaccines, Anesthesia, Insulin, and Gene therapy have come a long way since their revolutionary beginnings. More excitingly sooner or later we come closer to living in a world that seemed like science fiction a few decades ago, with things such as cancer nanotherapy, prosthetics capable of receiving brain signals, and the ability to create artificial organs. So, when we talk and think about medical fields, we often think of the ever-growing advancement of medical technology, but not always do we expect medical fields to fade out into obscurity due to technological advancements. That’s exactly what I’m here to talk about, the death of medical fields.

Firstly I want to clarify that… the title is somewhat misleading. Medical fields don’t simply “die” or “disappear” in a literal sense. They’re still present and functioning the same as ever. What I mean is that it turns into what is rather a niche field that retains a highly competitive rate, keeping many away, or a field that’s less in demand. This usually means that medical fields such as Nuclear Medicine, Radiology, Rheumatology, and Pathology, which are still very active to this day, aren’t in as high demand or retain a high growth rate as Anesthesiology, Orthopedics, or Plastic Surgery. For example, if we look at Radiation Oncology between 2001 and 2019. The number of positions offered in the field has increased by a whopping 227%. However, due to technological advancements and an increased understanding of cancer biology, Radiation Oncologists have been able to conduct fewer, but more effective treatments. This resulted in the number of people actually needed within the field drastically decreasing, and the supply of Oncologists has drastically outnumbered the demand. It has gone to the point where many grad students have reported great difficulty finding jobs after residency. This shows how technological advancements can very well cause a field to require fewer specialists, increasing competitiveness and decreasing supply, causing a certain field to decrease in popularity and fade into obscurity.

Another common way that causes medical fields to decline in market growth rate or demand is middle-level encroachment. Middle level refers to non-MD (doctor of medicine) healthcare professionals who provide medical services as non-professionally recognized medical doctors. As the United States allows more states for independent practice for mid-levels, they are opening up their own private medical institutions. Middle-level encroachment often occurs in aesthetics, fields such as plastic surgery or dermatology. Though, plastic surgery is absolutely in no way becoming absolute due to mid-level encroachment. Mid-level encroachment can often provide for cheaper minor operations. Though this hasn’t yet posed a threat to the very field itself, it has indeed made some impact. Leaving some professionals to argue that mid-level encroachment should be halted at once.

However, overall the future is very vague, no one is 100% sure which specialty will be in high demand 20 years from now, or which ones will fade into obscurity. Though in history plague doctors were expected to last forever, it wasn’t very long until they were replaced with modern medicine and common sense. Just as so, it is very possible for medical fields we see as vital and necessary to be replaced or obsolete due to technology or other factors.