title: Tennessee emergency medicine workforce, 2009.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Describe the characteristics of the Tennessee (TN) Emergency Medicine (EM) workforce.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional mail survey of all non-government emergency departments (EDs) in TN was performed between January and April 2009. Data collected included: number and residency training of physicians, ED volume, employment and type of mid-level providers. Survey datawere compared to recent national EM workforce data. Subgroup analysis of rural EDs using Rural-Urban Commuting Area Code (RUCA) criteria was conducted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We received responses from 50 of the 100 emergency departments surveyed. Roughly half (53 percent) were rural, based on RUCA criteria. Mid-level providers worked with physicians in 31 departments, with physician assistants(PAs) being employed more commonly than nurse practitioners(NPs). Paramedics and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) were employed less frequently. Most EM residency trained physicians in Tennessee are working in EDs with approximately 39,000 annual visits per year or greater. Subspecialty physicians such as neurosurgeons, gastroenterologists and otorhinolaryngologists are generally not available to rural EDs, except by patient transfer, illustrating the marked differences in the work environments.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  While there is clearly a need for more emergency medicine residency training programs in Tennessee, the need to continue to provide advanced training for family medicine residency trained physicians is also clear. Family medicine doctors provide most of the rural emergency medicine in Tennessee.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine, Knoxville, TN 37920, USA. akeenum@mc.utmck.edu
authors.forename: Amy J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Keenum
authors.forename: Luke M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Rawlings
authors.forename: Agricola
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Odoi
authors.forename: Michael G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Wortley
authors.forename: Leonard
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lamsen
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Lorraine S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Wallace
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004635:Emergency Medicine / Q000193:education*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008507:Medically Underserved Area; D010823:Physician Assistants / Q000600:supply & distribution; D019035:Rural Health Services; D013714:Tennessee; D014600:Utilization Review / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000078329:Workforce; D016526:Workload / Q000706:statistics & numerical data