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Table 47. Postdoctoral appointees in science, engineering, and health in all institutions, by detailed field, citizenship, and doctoral degree type: 2015

Field Total U.S. citizens and permanent residents Temporary visa holders
Doctoral degreea Professional degreea Dual degreea Doctoral degree type unknowna Doctoral degreea Professional degreea Dual degreea Doctoral degree type unknowna
All surveyed fields 63,861 19,138 2,458 441 6,689 25,863 1,752 615 6,905
Science and engineering 45,295 14,214 375 119 4,885 19,848 471 176 5,207
Science 37,639 12,459 350 106 4,157 15,874 449 167 4,077
Agricultural sciences 1,525 514 4 0 243 561 6 1 196
Biological sciences 19,304 6,302 275 75 1,886 8,191 390 128 2,057
Anatomy 202 59 3 3 17 80 11 0 29
Biochemistry 1,874 526 8 4 229 840 18 4 245
Biology 2,131 920 5 0 160 881 3 1 161
Biometry and epidemiology 649 273 11 2 54 249 10 8 42
Biophysics 144 42 0 0 14 62 0 0 26
Botany and plant biology 640 222 4 0 93 222 3 0 96
Cell and molecular biology 2,380 631 16 4 337 947 23 11 411
Ecology 137 52 1 0 40 25 0 0 19
Entomology and parasitology 289 115 2 0 37 111 0 0 24
Genetics 1,410 436 15 2 149 558 14 15 221
Microbiology, immunology, and virology 2,206 743 51 15 223 916 31 13 214
Nutrition 250 86 2 0 31 105 9 2 15
Pathology 1,407 415 51 17 88 622 89 31 94
Pharmacology and toxicology 1,253 471 27 9 62 580 20 17 67
Physiology 1,350 475 11 10 98 595 15 14 132
Zoology 51 22 0 0 16 11 0 0 2
Biosciences nec 2,931 814 68 9 238 1,387 144 12 259
Communication 83 32 0 0 12 31 0 0 8
Computer sciences 888 200 1 0 118 452 0 1 116
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 2,129 736 3 8 405 785 1 5 186
Atmospheric sciences 180 46 0 1 25 96 0 1 11
Geosciences 744 252 1 0 89 303 1 0 98
Ocean sciences 457 249 0 3 24 164 0 3 14
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences nec 748 189 2 4 267 222 0 1 63
Family and consumer sciences and human sciences 103 68 0 0 13 20 0 0 2
Mathematics and statistics 1,011 312 1 0 80 535 2 0 81
Mathematics and applied mathematics 873 278 1 0 72 455 2 0 65
Statistics 138 34 0 0 8 80 0 0 16
Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies 972 308 18 4 195 320 7 0 120
Neurobiology and neuroscience 1,957 715 14 9 193 772 25 14 215
Physical sciences 7,358 2,031 4 1 717 3,608 12 7 978
Astronomy and astrophysics 418 145 0 0 56 156 0 0 61
Chemistry 3,840 1,062 2 0 320 1,918 6 4 528
Physics 2,779 789 2 1 237 1,438 5 3 304
Physical sciences nec 321 35 0 0 104 96 1 0 85
Psychology 1,130 650 18 1 122 301 3 1 34
Clinical psychology 93 73 5 0 4 11 0 0 0
Psychology, general 634 346 4 0 83 175 1 0 25
Psychology nec 403 231 9 1 35 115 2 1 9
Social sciences 1,179 591 12 8 173 298 3 10 84
Agricultural economics 61 17 1 0 11 24 0 0 8
Anthropology 174 97 6 0 29 31 0 0 11
Economics (except agricultural) 95 32 0 1 11 30 0 6 15
Geography 96 36 0 1 10 42 0 0 7
History and philosophy of science 12 4 0 1 1 4 1 0 1
Linguistics 47 18 0 0 9 17 0 0 3
Political science and government 313 166 4 4 28 93 2 4 12
Sociology 104 66 0 1 16 15 0 0 6
Sociology and anthropology 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Social sciences nec 275 153 1 0 58 42 0 0 21
Engineering 7,656 1,755 25 13 728 3,974 22 9 1,130
Aerospace engineering 217 42 0 0 28 113 0 0 34
Agricultural engineering 221 44 0 1 35 87 0 0 54
Architecture 17 7 0 0 3 2 0 0 5
Biomedical engineering 1,201 415 9 11 115 517 5 3 126
Chemical engineering 1,283 276 1 0 143 638 0 0 225
Civil engineering 670 189 3 0 77 292 0 1 108
Electrical engineering 1,160 203 8 0 76 658 3 1 211
Engineering science, mechanics, and physics 251 71 1 0 13 160 0 0 6
Industrial and manufacturing engineering 142 42 0 0 9 79 1 0 11
Mechanical engineering 1,161 225 1 1 131 637 9 3 154
Metallurgical and materials engineering 911 135 2 0 70 535 4 1 164
Mining engineering 15 4 0 0 0 10 0 0 1
Nuclear engineering 107 20 0 0 12 54 0 0 21
Petroleum engineering 73 12 0 0 0 60 0 0 1
Engineering nec 227 70 0 0 16 132 0 0 9
Health 18,566 4,924 2,083 322 1,804 6,015 1,281 439 1,698
Clinical medicine 15,850 4,256 1,907 296 1,371 5,153 1,207 395 1,265
Anesthesiology 433 89 57 12 23 159 46 12 35
Cardiovascular science 825 166 144 12 62 229 100 33 79
Endocrinology 414 106 59 9 9 171 33 19 8
Gastroenterology 299 63 49 6 3 98 53 14 13
Hematology 356 80 30 17 8 164 40 15 2
Neurology 1,035 270 73 17 111 315 79 17 153
Obstetrics and gynecology 287 44 63 2 34 91 24 0 29
Oncology and cancer research 1,788 518 107 43 52 854 67 47 100
Ophthalmology 568 120 36 2 28 224 85 25 48
Otorhinolaryngology 169 47 19 2 16 49 15 6 15
Pediatrics 1,309 389 243 14 80 454 40 10 79
Preventive medicine and community health 704 323 43 6 98 178 24 5 27
Psychiatry 1,084 582 62 24 131 216 20 4 45
Pulmonary disease 305 68 109 10 6 67 28 3 14
Radiology 1,012 245 95 11 47 427 85 17 85
Surgery 1,267 204 196 21 130 321 192 50 153
Clinical medicine nec 3,995 942 522 88 533 1,136 276 118 380
Other health 2,716 668 176 26 433 862 74 44 433
Communication disorders sciences 77 26 10 1 16 12 2 1 9
Dental sciences 307 67 23 4 31 97 21 9 55
Nursing science 75 51 4 0 7 9 0 0 4
Pharmaceutical sciences 999 206 42 2 145 437 9 8 150
Veterinary sciences 541 114 66 11 117 138 15 15 65
Other health nec 717 204 31 8 117 169 27 11 150
nec = not elsewhere classified.
a Doctoral degree includes PhD, ScD, DEng, etc.; professional degree includes MD, DVM, DO, DDS, etc.; dual degree includes both professional and doctoral degrees (MD-PhD, DVM-PhD, etc.).
NOTE: "Field" refers to the field of the unit that reports postdocs to the Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering.
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering, 2015.