Changes in positions of authority held by US physicians: a fresh look at existing data.

Some experts contend that physicians have lost positions of authority in the past 40 years. Others argue the opposite, yet neither side bases its arguments on empirical data. This study examined longitudinal variables measuring authority positions held by physicians. Data on the relative position of physicians in medical schools show that medical doctors held 65.6% of the sampled positions in 1970 vs 72.8% in 1990. Yet, in the wider society and within the nonmedical school portion of the health sector, other data indicate that physicians occupy a smaller proportion of authority positions.