Analysis of the personnel development in anesthesiology over the last two decades with special attention to gender aspects

Abstract

Skills shortage of nursing staff and physicians is a "hot topic" in health politics. For the future recruitment of medical staff in anesthesiology, an analysis of the staff development during the last decades considering gender aspectsseems to be important. Therefore, the authors conducted a comparative analysis of data from the "Statistisches Bundesamt" (Fachserie12 Reihe 7.3.1 and Fachserie12 Reihe 6.1.1.) from 1994 until 2015. The analysis compared the development of anesthesiological staff (physicians) with the overall development of medical staff (physicians) in respect of the number of residents, consultants and department chairs. There are two major differences between the development of medical staff in anesthesiology and the overall development of medical staff: (1)in anesthesiology there is a high percentage of consultants without management tasks, (2)though the percentage of female colleagues is increasing both in anesthesiology and overall, the percentage of female colleagues in management or chair positions is lower in anesthesiology compared to the other disciplines, altogether. Anesthesiology is a discipline in which both the number of tasks and personnel have risen over the last two decades. The comparatively huge increase in the number of residents and consultants without management tasks suggests that the number of tasks in daily routine has substantially increased for anesthesiologists. The comparatively low percentage of female colleagues in chair positions should give an impulse to improve the compatibility of family and working live both for clinical and scientific careers.