About

Sheps Health Workforce NC provides timely, objective data and analysis to inform health workforce policy in North Carolina and across the United States. We are based at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services at UNC-Chapel Hill, but our mission is statewide, a collaboration between the Sheps Center, the North Carolina Area Health Education Centers Program (AHEC), and the health professions licensing boards.

Evan pointing at poster and presenting.

We manage the North Carolina Health Professions Data System (HPDS), collecting and disseminating descriptive data on selected licensed health professionals in North Carolina. With annual files dating back to 1979, the HPDS is the oldest continuous state health workforce data system in the country.

Ongoing financial support is provided by the NC AHEC Program Office and the Office of the Provost at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Although we maintain the data system, the data remain the property of their respective licensing board.

Contact Us

If you are not able to find the health professions data you need on our website, or are interested in further analysis or data, contact us by email at nchealthworkforce@unc.edu. We operate on a cost recovery basis for data requests.

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Stay in touch! Sign up for our newsletter here. Find us on Twitter here. Find us on Facebook here. For more publications from the Program on Health Workforce Research and Policy, look here.

Recent Posts

Is Access to Primary Care Clinicians Improving In North Carolina?

Is Access to Primary Care Clinicians Improving In North Carolina?
2023 Data Update: The North Carolina Health Professions Data System

2023 Data Update: The North Carolina Health Professions Data System
Trends in the racial and ethnic diversity of NC health professions

Trends in the racial and ethnic diversity of NC health professions
How does the racial and ethnic diversity of NC health professionals compare to the racial and ethnic diversity of the state population?

How does the racial and ethnic diversity of NC health professionals compare to the racial and ethnic diversity of the state population?
NC's Dentist Workforce Continues to Grow, But Mostly in 5 Counties

North Carolina increased the supply of dentists by 586 between 2017 and 2021. Where did they go?
Comparing Hospital Nurse Settings from the 2018 NSSRN vs. 2008-2013 North Carolina Licensure Data

Findings suggest NC workforce is similar to the national one in terms of hospital employment setting.
Distribution of critical care physician workforce in North Carolina

Distribution of critical care physician workforce in North Carolina
North Carolina’s Supply of Critical Care Nurses are Crucial to the State’s COVID-19 Response

Does NC have the critical care nursing workforce needed to combat COVID-19?

North Carolina’s Respiratory Therapist Workforce: Availability to treat COVID-19

North Carolina’s Respiratory Therapist Workforce: Availability to treat COVID-19
Primary Care Access in North Carolina is Not Equally Distributed

Primary Care Access in North Carolina is Not Equally Distributed

COVID-19, Primary Care, and Infectious Disease Physicians in NC

COVID-19, Primary Care, and Infectious Disease Physicians in NC
How diverse is NC's obstetric delivery workforce?

How diverse is NC's obstetric delivery workforce?
What do we know about graduate medical education (GME) outcomes in NC?

What do we know about NC's GME outcomes?
NC's physician-to-population ratio is increasing, but most of the growth is in urban areas.

The ratio of physicians-to-population is increasing in NC, but most of the increase is in urban areas.
Where do NC’s international medical graduates come from?

Where do NC’s international medical graduates come from?
Where were North Carolina's Occupational Therapists Trained?

37% of NC occupational therapists were trained in state. What about the rest?
Age Distribution for Health Professionals, Metro and Rural, North Carolina

Compare the age distributions of health professionals in metro and rural areas.
The dentist workforce in urban counties is younger than the workforce in rural counties.

There are more younger dentists than older dentists in urban NC counties.
Rate per 10,000 Population Over Time, Metro and Rural, North Carolina

See how different health professions have grown over time.
The Population Structure of Health Professions in North Carolina

Look at the population structure for different health professions.
Maternal & Fetal Medicine FTEs per 10,000 Population By County

Maternal and Fetal Medicine physicians tend to be concentrated in metropolitan counties.
Nurse Practitioner (NP) and Physician Assistant (PA) Schools in North Carolina

How many nurse practitioner and physician assistant schools are in NC?
Since 2000, Growth of North Carolina's Nurse Practitioners (NPs) and Physician Assistants (PA) Has Outpaced That of Physicians.

How rapidly have physicians, PAs, and NPs grown in rural and urban counties in NC?
Compared to Non-AHEC Residents, a Higher Percentage of NC AHEC Residents are Practicing in NC

Compared to non-AHEC residents, a higher percentage of NC AHEC residents are practicing in NC
Distribution of Psychiatrists Across North Carolina

Where are psychiatrists practicing in North Carolina?
North Carolina Psychologists by Age and Sex

A quarter of psychologists are 65 or older, but a large and mostly female cohort are earlier in their careers.
Which North Carolina counties have older populations?

What percentage of the residents in your county are 65 and older?
Aging of the Physician Workforce

The rural physician workforce is aging at a faster pace than the urban workforce.
Tracking the Workforce Outcomes of NC Medical Schools Five Years After Graduation: Class of 2012

How many graduates from NC medical schools were practicing in primary care in NC five years after graduating?
Mission Matters: In-State Retention of NC Medical School Graduates

Does a medical school's mission affect where its graduates practice?
NC's Public Medical Schools Retain More Graduates In-State Than Private Medical Schools Do.

Which medical schools retain the highest percentage of graduates in NC?
NC's Dentist Workforce Has Grown, But Only in Well-Supplied Counties

North Carolina added 551 new dentists between 2013 and 2017. Where did they go?
How has the physician supply changed over time in North Carolina counties?

Investigate the supply of North Carolina physicians with an interactive beeswarm plot.
NC Health Professionals are Less Racially and Ethnically Diverse than the General Population.

NC health professionals are less racially and ethnically diverse than the general population.
Most NC Health Care Jobs are in Allied Health, Nursing, or are Aides/Attendants

Most NC health care jobs are in allied health, nursing, or are aides/attendants
Rural residents who are 65 or older are increasing in both number and proportion.

Retirees will soon be more numerous than children in rural North Carolina.
NC Health Care Jobs Surpass Manufacturing Jobs in 2009

In 2009, employment in health care and social services surpassed employment in manufacturing.

About

Download Data

History of the Health Professions Data System

NC Health Professional Licensing Boards

North Carolina Health Professional Supply Data

Investigate the supply of health professionals in North Carolina.