Abstract
Physicians can be viewed as a relatively homogeneous group, but one that has its own internal specifics, which may be affected by physician demographics for example. This article highlights major differences in the distribution of physicians in the Czech Republic, by age and by gender, both generally and across different types of care, i.e. in different specialties (e.g. general practice, general paediatrics, dentistry, outpatient gynaecology).
It draws on data from the database of the main Czech health insurance company, which has information on virtually all physicians in the Czech Republic. In almost all the specialities investigated, there are significant differences in the average number of FTE physicians in the various age categories: those in the 50-59 age group have the longest contracted hours, and in other categories the average number of posts is gradually decreasing.
The differences can be seen in part as the result of female doctors combining work and motherhood. The overall current distribution of physicians in the Czech Republic is unsatisfactory.