Regional differentiation of the age structure of practitioners in the Czech Republic at the beginning of the 21st century
Abstract
The numbers of physicians in branches of the general practical medicine and practical medicine for children and youth have been relatively stable in the Czech Republic over the past few years. However, looking at the internal demographic structure, it could be predicted that these branches will face considerable problems in the coming years.
The reason is the uneven age structure of these physicians, when more than half of the physicians are concentrated in the age group 50–64 years, while the proportion of physicians under 35 years is around 3.5 % in the branch of general practical medicine and only about 1.0 % in the branch of practical medicine for children and youth. In the perspective of 10–15 years, when the most of the current generations of physicians in the age of 50 and above retires, there is a real danger of lack of physicians in these branches of activities for up to one third of current levels.