A new study examines the political behavior of American physicians in recent years, as the number of female physicians increased and the number of solo practitioners decreased, finding the political alignment shifted from predominantly Republican toward the Democrats.
For the study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers analyzed physicians' political campaign contributions from the 1991-92 through 2011-12 election cycles. Contributions to Republican and Democratic candidates were examined for presidential and congressional races, along with contributions to partisan organizations, including party committees and super political action committees.
Here are five key takeaways.
1. Between the 1991-92 and 2011-12 election cycles, the percentage of active physicians contributing increased from 2.6 percent to 9.4 percent. Physician campaign contributions increased from $20 million to $189 million.
2. Since 1996, the percentage of physicians contributing to Republicans decreased, hitting less than 50 percent in the 2007-08 election cycle and again in the 2011-12 election cycle.
3. Of physicians who contributed during the study period, the mean percentage contributing to Republicans was 57 percent for men and 31 percent for women.
4. For the 2011-12 cycle, contributions to Republicans were more prevalent among men than women (52 percent vs. 24 percent), physicians practicing in for-profit vs. nonprofit organizations (53 percent vs. 26 percent), and surgeons vs. pediatricians (70 percent vs. 22 percent).
5. Medical specialties with higher mean earnings had higher percentages of physicians contributing to Republicans.
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