TRENDS IN PSYCHIATRY PHYSICIANS 1996-2006 SPECIALTY FACT SHEET SERIES SPRING 2009 (No. 3 of 12) 
GEORGIA BOARD FOR PHYSICIAN WORKFORCE 
 
SUPPLY AND DISTRIBUTION OF PSYCHIATRY PHYSICIANS 
 
Psychiatry Physician Distribution  2006 Secondary Care Service Areas* (SCSA) 
 
Dade Catoosa 
 
Murray 
 
Fannin 
 
Towns Rabun 
 
Union 
 
Whitfield Walker 
 
Gilmer 
 
White Habersham 
 
Chattooga Gordon 
Region 1 
Floyd6.1 Bartow 
 
Pickens 
 
Lumpkin 
Region 
 
2 
 
Stephens 
 
4.2 Dawson 
 
Banks Franklin 
 
Hart 
 
Cherokee Forsyth Hall 
 
Jackson Madison Elbert 
 
Below State Rate Above State Rate 
GA Rate = 11.2 US Rate = 13.8 
 
Region 3 Polk 
 
Cobb 
 
Paulding Haralson 
 
Gwinnett Barrow Clarke Oglethorpe 
 
Dekalb 
 
Walton Oconee 
 
Wilkes 
 
*Physicians per 100,000 population Lincoln 
 
Carroll 
 
Douglas 14.3 
Fulton Clayton 
 
Region 
 
Rockdale 
 
Morgan 
 
Newton 5.4 
 
5 
Greene 
 
Taliaferro 
 
Columbia McDuffie 
 
Region 7 Coweta 
Heard 
 
Henry Fayette 
Butts Spalding 
 
Jasper 
 
Warren Putnam 
Hancock Glascock 
 
Richmond 
 
Reg6io.5n 4 Region 6 18.0 Troup Meriwether Pike Lamar Monroe 
 
Baldwin Jones 
 
Jefferson Washington 
 
Burke 
 
Harris 
 
Upson 
 
Talbot 
 
14.5 Bibb 
Crawford 
 
Wilkinson 
 
Twiggs 
 
Johnson Emanuel 
 
Jenkins 
 
Screven 
 
Taylor 
 
Peach 
 
Muscogee 
Region 8 Marion 
 
Houston Bleckley Laurens 
 
Treutlen 
 
Bulloch Candler 
 
Effingham 
 
Region 9 Region 12 Chattahoochee 
 
Macon 
 
10.5 Schley 
 
6.2 10.5 Stewart Webster 
 
Sumter 
 
Pulaski Dodge Dooly 
Wilcox 
 
Montgomery 
 
Evans 
 
Wheeler 
 
Tatnall Toombs 
 
Bryan Chatham 
 
Crisp 
 
Telfair 
 
Liberty 
 
Quitman 
 
Terrell Lee 
 
Randolph 
 
Clay Calhoun Dougherty 
 
Region 10 
 
Early 
 
Baker 
 
9.5 Mitchell 
 
Miller 
 
Turner 
 
Ben Hill 
 
Jeff Davis Appling 
 
Long 
 
Worth Colquitt 
 
Irwin 
 
Coffee Bacon 
 
Wayne 
 
Tift Region 11 
 
Pierce 
 
Berrien 7.1 
 
Cook 
 
Atkinson 
 
Ware 
 
Brantley 
 
McIntosh Glynn 
 
Seminole Decatur 
 
Grady Thomas Brooks 
 
Lanier Lowndes 
 
Clinch 
 
Charlton 
 
Camden 
 
Echols 
 
*State Service Delivery Regions; Effective July 1, 1998, the State Legislature voted to provide regional boundaries for the purpose of consistency in planning and service delivery from State Agencies. 
 
 There was an increase in physicians becoming board certified between 1996 and 2006. o 1996: 61.1% of psychiatry physicians were board certified compared to 73.4% of total physicians. 
o 2006: 71.0% of psychiatry physicians were board certified compared to 83.2% of total physicians. 
 Nine of the twelve SCSAs are below the state rate for psychiatry physicians. 
 The rate for SCSA Region 2 of 4.2 psychiatry physicians is below the state rate of 11.2. 
 The number of psychiatry physicians has grown by 23.5% between 1996 and 2006, but the rate has decreased slightly 
 Of all the psychiatry physicians: o 1996: 6.8% were residents o 2006: 2.7% were residents 
 Of all the residents: o 1996: 7.3% were in psychiatry o 2006: 7.3% were in psychiatry 
 
MSA VERSUS NON-MSA DISTRIBUTION OF PSYCHIATRY PHYSICIANS 
Psychiatry physicians have always been concentrated in Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). However, there has been a decline of psychiatry physicians practicing in Non-Metropolitan Statistical Areas (Non-MSA's). From 2004 to 2006, there was a 6.7% decrease in the percentage of psychiatry physicians practicing in Non-MSA designated areas. 
PSYCHIATRY PHYSICIANS BY YEAR: GEORGIA MSA/NON-MSA 
 
DESIGNATION MSA 
NON-MSA 
 
2004 81.3% 18.7% 
 
2006 88.0% 12.0% 
 
Georgia Board for Physician Workforce 1718 Peachtree St., N.W., Suite 683, Atlanta, Georgia 30309, (404) 206-5420 www.gbpw.georgia.gov Cherri Tucker, Executive Director. Colette Caldwell, Carla Graves, Kelly McNamara, and G.E. Alan Dever, M.D., Ph.D., contributors. 
 
 DEMOGRAPHICS 
 
Psychiatry Physicians By Gender 
 
80 
 
73.1% 
 
66.8% 
 
70 
 
60 
 
Psychiatry Physicians By Race 
100 81.5% 74.9% 
80 
 
50 
 
60 
 
40 
 
33.2% 26.9% 
 
30 
 
40 
 
20 
 
10 
 
0 Male 
 
Female 
 
1996 2006 
 
20 
0 White 
 
14.3% 
 
8.1% 
 
9.6% 6.3% 0.8% 4.5% 
 
Black 1996 
 
Asian 2006 
 
Other 
 
Since 1996, there has been a 6.3% increase in the number of female psychiatry physicians practicing in Georgia. Additionally, the percentage of black psychiatry physicians has increased by 6.6% since 1996. The percentage of white psychiatry physicians has decreased by 6.6%, while the percentage of Asian psychiatry physicians has decreased by 3.3%. 
 
Percentage of Psychiatry Physicians 
 
and Total Physicians Age 55 and Older 
 
1996 and 2006 
 
40 
 
31.9% 
 
30 
 
23.6% 
 
38.4% 26.3% 
 
20 
 
10 
 
0 1996 
 
2006 
 
Psychiatry 
 
Total Physicians 
 
 The percentage of psychiatry physicians 
age 55 and older increased by 6.5% between 1996 and 2006. 
 Similarly, the percentage of total practicing 
physicians age 55 and older increased by 2.7% during the same time period. 
 
TRENDS IN THE NUMBER AND RATE OF PSYCHIATRY PHYSICIANS 
 
Overall, the NUMBER of psychiatry physicians practicing in Georgia has increased from 1996 to 2006. However, when the numbers are compared to changes in the population for the same period, Georgia has actually experienced an overall decline in the RATE of psychiatry physicians. In 1996, Georgia had a rate of 11.4 psychiatry physicians compared to 10.5 in 2004; however the rate increased slightly by 2006. 
 
Total Number 
 
Rate per 100,000 Population 
 
1200 
 
1000 
 
912 
 
823 844 
 
800 
 
1,016 895 915 
 
12 11.4 11.0 11.1 10.4 10.5 11.1 10 
8 
 
600 
 
6 
 
400 
200 
0 1996 
 
1998 
 
2000 
 
2002 
 
2004 
 
2006 
 
4 
2 
0 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006