The Necessary Gastroenterology and Hepatology Workforce in Iran

Background:  Nowadays, gastroenterologists work a wide variety of areas and in this field a lot of new trends have been set up worldwide. According to our nation’s goals in science production and being a leader in innovation and technology, and also creating several cohorts in digestive and liver diseases, we need to calculate and predict the workforce needed. Materials and Methods:  Among the 51 medical universities in Iran, 12 train adult and 5 train pediatric gastroenterologists and hepatologists. About 33 to 35 adult and 8 to 10 pediatric gastroenterologists are trained every year. Currently we have about 650 adult and pediatric gastroenterologists working in Iran, meaning one gastroenterologist per 124,000 population, which 30% are practicing in Tehran. Results: Each year 40-45 fellows of gastroenterology will be trained, leading to 950 adult and pediatric gastroenterologists by 2025. Our population is estimated to be about 90 million persons by then, leading to one gastroenterologist per every 95-100,000 population. Conclusions:  Estimating the need for gastroenterologists depends on the per capita income, governmental funds and insurance policies. Distribution of gastroenterologists is centralized in large cities and capitals of each province. Every year about 45 gastroenterologists enter Iran’s workforce, along with this increase we need necessary equipment for diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic procedures. Proper distribution of graduates can facilitate and improve services in this field. Till 2025, our population is estimated to be about 90 million and we will have about 950 gastroenterologists, meaning 1 per every 95-100,000 population. Therefore, the estimates given by Strategic Planning Committee seems reasonable and justifiable.