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. 2023 Sep 8;10(9):ofad463.
doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofad463. eCollection 2023 Sep.

Complexity of Infectious Diseases Compared With Other Medical Subspecialties

Brian Grundy  1 , Eric Houpt  2
Affiliations

Complexity of Infectious Diseases Compared With Other Medical Subspecialties

Brian Grundy et al. Open Forum Infect Dis. .

Abstract

We aimed to highlight the complexity of the field of clinical infectious diseases compared with other medical specialties. Using available metrics, the body of knowledge within clinical infectious diseases is comparatively large and complex. This increasing complexity is underappreciated by current physician compensation schemes, needs to be carefully managed to educate future physicians, and may serve as a barrier to recruitment into the field.

Keywords: Compensation; Complexity; Education; Guidelines; UpToDate.

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Conflict of interest statement

Potential conflicts of interest. Both authors: No reported conflicts.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Comparison of internal medicine specialties by specialty-specific articles, society guidelines, new Food and Drug Administration (FDA)–approved medications, and starting faculty salaries. A, Numbers of UpToDate articles in each specialty section, as of 2 May 2023. B, Numbers of current evidence-based recommendations in specialty society guidelines (infectious diseases [ID], Infectious Diseases Society of America; endocrinology, Endocrine Society; nephrology, Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes; and rheumatology, American College of Rheumatology). C, Numbers of FDA-approved new molecular entities from 1985 to 2022, for which the primary indication can be assigned to a specific specialty. D, Median assistant professor total compensation by specialty in 2022 (American Academy of Medical Colleges Faculty Salary Report [11]).
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