If you, or a child or beloved niece or newphew, is about to graduate from medical school and is looking for a job, there are a number of states that should be avoided, perhaps regardless of how sweet the job offer.
That's according to Wallethub, which gathered and analyzed statistics on 12 key metrics, including doctors per capita, cost of malpractice insurance, the relative disciplinary characteristics of state medical boards, income and so on.
The best places to practice medicine? Well, according to Wallethub, we're talking South Carolina, Minnesota, Texas, Mississippi or Kansas.
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And, now, let's take a closer look at the bottom-dwellers.
No. 47: Maine
You want lobsters, Maine's your state. You want patients, go elsewhere! Things are generally dismal here for physicians, according to the study, as Maine ranked No. 43 for opportunity and No. 48 for work environment, landing it as No. 47 overall.
No. 48: New York
Frank Sinatra may have loved it, but his family doctor probably didn't. The Empire State showed up at No. 50 for work environment and No. 40 for opportunity and competition. It appeared among the worst five on four of the six critical metrics lists: most expensive malpractice insurance, highest malpractice payouts, most competition and lowest annual wages.
No. 49: Oregon
The nation's darling among millennials seeking work in tattoo parlors and coffee shops, it's no place for a newly minted physician to relocate. Oregon ranked dead last in opportunity and competition, although it fared better (No. 24) in work environment. It made no appearances on any of the six critical "best of" lists and showed up on the "worst of" for lowest wage disparities.
No. 50: New Jersey
The Garden State ain't no fertile soil for physicians, according to this study. It ranked No. 50 in opportunity and competition, and 31 in work environment. It made none of the "best of" lists and just one of the "worst of": highest malpractice payouts, ranking No. 50, just ahead of New York.
No. 51: Rhode Island
The Ocean State appeared on two "worst of" critical sublists as well as dead last in the overall list. It's ranking for work environment wasn't horrible at 30, but it placed No. 49 in "opportunity and competition." It showed up among the worst five on the "most competition" list and the "highest medical malpractice payouts" list. It appeared on none of the critical "best of" sublists.
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
