Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Apr;36(2):168-173.
doi: 10.2337/cd17-0097.

Endocrinologists' Opinions of Diabetology as a Primary Care Subspecialty

Amber M Healy  1   2 , Jay H Shubrook  3 , Frank L Schwartz  1 , Doyle M Cummings  4 , Almond J Drake 3rd  4 , Robert J Tanenberg  4
Affiliations

Endocrinologists' Opinions of Diabetology as a Primary Care Subspecialty

Amber M Healy et al. Clin Diabetes. 2018 Apr.

Abstract

IN BRIEF This study was conducted to ascertain the opinions of endocrinologists about diabetes care as it relates to the health care provider workforce. A survey was administered to endocrinologists in the Planning Research in Inpatient Diabetes and Planning Research in Outpatient Diabetes (PRIDE/PROUD) group and given to attendees of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) Scientific Sessions special interest group whose focus was primary care. The majority of respondents agreed that there is a need for more providers to be trained to take care of patients with diabetes and that more trained providers are needed, and almost half agreed that primary care providers (PCPs) with advanced training in diabetes should be part of the workforce for managing the diabetes pandemic. Expanding diabetes fellowship programs for PCPs remains an important potential solution for addressing workforce development needs in diabetes care.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIGURE 1.
FIGURE 1.
When queried about the supply of endocrinologists to manage diabetes, respondents felt that there are not enough endocrinologists. Just over 76% disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement that there are enough endocrinologists for diabetes. Of those surveyed, two-thirds identified their practices as being diabetes-focused.
FIGURE 2.
FIGURE 2.
Respondents were asked if they would be supportive of diabetology as its own primary care subspecialty. Not quite one-third were supportive. Just under half were not supportive, and the remaining respondents gave neutral responses regarding their support.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. American Diabetes Association Diabetes statistics. Available from http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/statistics/?loc=db-slabnav. Accessed 29 October 2017
    1. Endocrine Society Endocrine Clinical Workforce: Supply and Demand Projections. Available from https://www.endocrine.org/-/media/endosociety/files/advocacy-and-outreac.... Accessed 12 January 2017
    1. Beaser R, Okeke E, Neighbors J, et al. . Coordinated primary and specialty care for type 2 diabetes mellitus, guidelines, and systems: an educational needs assessment. Endocr Pract 2011;17:880–890 - PubMed
    1. Vigersky RA, Fish L, Hogan P, et al. . The clinical endocrinology workforce: current status and future projections of supply and demand. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2014;99:3112–3121 - PubMed
    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Adult obesity facts. Available from https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html. Accessed 16 January 2018