Office of Rural Health and Primary Care
P.O. Box 64882
St. Paul, MN 55164-0882
651-201-3838
Minnesota’s Psychiatrist Workforce, 2012
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), in cooperation with the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice
(BMP), collects information on the demographics, education, practice locations and specialties of boardcertified psychiatrists licensed in Minnesota. As part of their license renewal process, psychiatrists also
complete an MDH workforce survey. Unless otherwise noted, the analysis below is based on BMP data, which
was obtained for 100 percent of board-certified psychiatrists in the state. i Information on race, work status and
settings, and future plans was obtained through the MDH survey, which had a 62 percent response rate. ii All
data presented here are for psychiatrists with active Minnesota licenses as of March 31, 2012.
Overall
As of March 2012, 658 psychiatrists were licensed in
Minnesota. Of these, 474 were board-certified general
psychiatrists, 77 percent of whom were based in
Minnesota. iii An additional 184 had one or more
psychiatric subspecialty certifications, and 70 percent
of these psychiatrists were Minnesota-based.
In the MDH physician workforce survey, 88 percent of
psychiatrists self-identified as White, 7 percent as
Asian. The remaining 5 percent reported their race as
Other, Black, American Indian or Multi-racial. iv
Nearly 2 percent indicated a Hispanic ethnicity. v
Age
The median age for Minnesota-based general
Of the 129 Minnesota-based subspecialty providers, 55 psychiatrists was 53 and 54 for sub-specialists. Nearly
percent were board certified in child and adolescent
half (45 percent) of those board certified in general
psychiatry. Only 16 physicians were certified in
psychiatry were 55 or older, and fully half of subgeriatric psychiatry, a subspecialty expected to be in
specialists were over 55 (Figure 2). A quarter of
high demand as the Baby Boomers age. Eleven
general psychiatrists were under age 45, compared to
psychiatrists were board certified in two or more
only 15 percent of sub-specialists. This difference may
subspecialties.
reflect the four- to five-year initial residency training
for psychiatrists, plus an additional one to two years of
fellowship training to become eligible for board
Gender, Race and Ethnicity
General psychiatry was 66 percent male and 34
certification in the psychiatric sub-specialties.
percent female, and subspecialty psychiatry was 64
percent male and 36 percent female. However, women
Figure 2. Age of MN-Based Psychiatrists
have begun to represent a larger percentage of the
profession, especially among younger age cohorts.
Figure 1 demonstrates this trend among general
psychiatrists.
36%
34%
Figure 1. Gender and Age of MN-Based
General Psychiatrists
40%
60%
< 35yrs
(N=15)
56%
62%
70%
85%
44%
38%
30%
15%
35 - 44 yrs
(N=77)
45 - 54 yrs
(N=112)
55 - 64 yrs
(N=98)
Female
Male
65 yrs +
(N=66)
15%
0%
4%
< 35yrs
21%
16%
30%
27%
35 - 44 yrs 45 - 54 yrs 55 - 64 yrs
18%
65 yrs +
Psychiatry Sub-Specialty (N=129)
General Psychiatry (N=368)
Minnesota’s Psychiatrist Work Force, 2012 – Page 2
Geographic Distribution
Both general and subspecialty Minnesota-based
psychiatrists were concentrated in the seven-county
Twin Cities and southeast regions of the state (Figure
3). A substantial percentage of Minnesota-licensed
psychiatrists had mailing addresses outside the state.
Most of these reported practice locations in other
states, but a small number based in North Dakota,
South Dakota and Wisconsin reported practicing in
Minnesota. Some not practicing in Minnesota may
have completed their residency or fellowship in the
state, then left to practice elsewhere while continuing
to renew their Minnesota license.
Figure 4. Urban-Rural Distribution of
Psychiatrists in Minnesota
Isolated
Rural
Small
Rural
Large
Rural
Figure 3. Regional Distribution of
Psychiatrists in Minnesota
41%
30%
Outof_State
22%
1%
1%
1%
1%
7%
8%
63%
Urban
68%
Subspecialty Psych (N=184)
30%
55%
4%
5%
18%
1%
3%
3%
3%
General Psych (N=474)
9%
4%
22%
3%
Subspecialty Psych (N=184)
The majority of Minnesota-based psychiatrists were
located in urban areas (including the Twin Cities,
Rochester, Duluth, St. Cloud and Moorhead), while
those in the rural areas clustered primarily in large
rural settings (Figure 4).
General Psych (N=474)
Work Status and Future Plans
The vast majority (93 percent) of psychiatrists worked
in a paid position requiring a license to practice
medicine. In the MDH workforce survey, five percent
reported being retired, 1 percent was unemployed but
looking for work, and 1 percent was employed in
another field or not currently working. vi Over half of
the Minnesota-based psychiatrists said they expect to
practice 10 years or more, while more than a fifth said
they intended to practice 6 to 10 years. The remainder
said they were likely to work five years or less. vii
Figure 5. Psychiatrists' Future Practice
Plans
55% intend
to practice
more than
10 years
23 % intend
to practice
0-5 years
22% intend
to practice
6-10 years
N = 285
July 2013
Minnesota’s Psychiatrist Work Force, 2012 – Page 3
Primary Work Settings and Activities
Half of the board-certified psychiatrists indicated in
the MDH workforce survey that they worked mostly in
office or clinic settings. viii Hospital inpatient settings
ranked second, and hospital outpatient settings ix
ranked third.
Figure 6. Primary Work Settings of
Minnesota's Psychiatrists
Medical
School
2%
All Other
7%
Treatment
Facility
2%
Office or
Clinic
50%
Hospital
Outpatient
17%
Hospital
Inpatient
22%
N=273
Notes
i
Only physicians with American Board of Psychiatry and
Neurology general and subspecialty certifications, or those from
the American Osteopathic Association Neurology and Psychiatry
Specialty Certifying Board, were included in the analysis.
ii
This is the survey response rate for all psychiatrists with
Minnesota mailing addresses renewing their licenses (N=308).
This rate refers to responses to one or more questions on the
MDH workforce survey. The number of cases (N) may vary from
question to question in that some psychiatrists opted not to
respond to specific questions, but did respond to others. Survey
results are subject to self-selection as well as non-response error,
therefore respondents may differ and not necessarily be
representative of the psychiatrist population in Minnesota. This
limitation applies only to the information related to race, work
status, and the survey results displayed in Figure 5 and Figure 6.
iii
These physicians reported a Minnesota mailing address when
applying for or renewing a license to practice medicine in the
state. While some physicians with out-of-state license addresses
see patients in Minnesota, state law did not require applicants to
state their primary practice location until August 1, 2012. Because
the data used in this analysis predated that requirement, license
mailing address is used to define Minnesota-based physicians.
iv
Survey response rate for the race question among Minnesotabased generalist and subspecialist psychiatrists combined
(N=296) was 60 percent. See earlier footnote for additional
survey limitations.
v
Survey response rate for the Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin
question was 61 percent (N=299).
vi
Survey response rate for the survey work status question
represented in Figure 5 among generalist and subspecialists
combined was 62 percent (N=308).
vii
Survey response rate for the future practice question
represented in Figure 5 was 60 percent (N=299). Non-responses
and those reporting they will not be practicing in Minnesota in the
future were eliminated from the Figure percentages.
viii
Survey response rate for the work site question represented in
Figure 6 was 55 percent (N=273). The “All Other” category
includes the survey response categories “Other” and “Hospice.”
ix
Hospital emergency department responses were combined with
hospital outpatient responses.
Data tables for Figures
Figure 1: Gender an d age o f MN -ba sed general psychiatrists
Female
Male
Total
Gender
< 35yrs (N=15)
60%
40%
100%
35 - 44 yrs (N= 77)
44%
56%
100%
Figure 2: Age of M N-b ased p sychiatrists
Colum n1
General psych
Subs peci alty psy ch
< 35yrs (N=15)
4%
0%
35 - 44 yrs (N= 77)
Figure 3: Regio nal distributio n of p sychiatrists in M N
Twin Citie s
Central
Northe ast
Northwest
Southe ast
Southw est
Out -of-State
Region
General Psych (N=47 4)
Subs peci alty Psych (N=1 84)
55%
5%
3%
3%
9%
3%
22%
Figure 4: Urban -rural di stribution o f psychi atrists in MN
RUCA
Urban
Large Rural
Small Rural
Isolate d Rural
Out -of_State
General Psych (N=47 4)
68%
8%
1%
1%
22%
Subs peci alty Psych (N=1 84)
Figure 5: Psychi atrists' future pra ctice plan s
Practice 0-5 years (N=65)
Practice 6-10 years (N=6 3)
Practice more tha n 10 year s (N=157)
23%
22%
55%
Figure 6: Primary work settings o f Minne sota's psy chiatrists
Office or Cli nic
Hos pital Inpatient
Hos pital Outpatie nt
Treatment Facility
Medical School
All Other
50%
22%
17%
2%
3%
7%
For more information, contact:
Office of Rural Health and Primary Care
Health Workforce Analysis Program
651-201-3838
www.health.state.mn.us/divs/orhpc/workforce
July 2013