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Table 47. Postdoctoral appointees in science, engineering, and health in all institutions, by detailed field, citizenship, and doctoral degree type: 2016

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 64,712 20,668 2,314 495 6,333 26,709 1,799 706 5,688
Science and engineering 45,737 15,279 343 118 4,465 20,092 514 210 4,716
Science 37,941 13,372 322 111 3,810 16,022 482 192 3,630
Agricultural sciences 1,484 536 7 2 210 536 3 1 189
Biological sciences 19,427 6,908 247 79 1,604 8,445 384 146 1,614
Anatomy 184 70 2 2 9 81 5 1 14
Biochemistry 1,776 615 5 2 134 853 10 9 148
Biology 2,094 905 15 2 166 859 7 2 138
Biometry and epidemiology 676 306 11 3 63 241 11 4 37
Biophysics 148 38 1 0 11 75 1 0 22
Botany and plant biology 648 281 7 0 58 246 3 0 53
Cell and molecular biology 2,310 763 15 2 208 1,023 39 20 240
Ecology 154 52 0 0 44 29 0 0 29
Entomology and parasitology 254 98 2 0 40 88 0 0 26
Genetics 1,566 619 19 7 86 638 32 13 152
Microbiology, immunology, and virology 2,139 791 57 12 166 922 31 17 143
Nutrition 265 90 2 0 32 108 7 3 23
Pathology 1,264 362 40 22 89 591 81 18 61
Pharmacology and toxicology 1,193 422 19 7 66 567 21 5 86
Physiology 1,494 459 22 5 134 680 28 17 149
Zoology 46 29 0 0 10 4 0 0 3
Biosciences nec 3,216 1,008 30 15 288 1,440 108 37 290
Communication 86 34 0 0 10 35 0 0 7
Computer sciences 914 207 2 1 118 436 1 0 149
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 2,104 744 7 6 382 766 13 5 181
Atmospheric sciences 254 67 0 1 25 144 2 2 13
Geosciences 688 252 2 2 75 274 1 1 81
Ocean sciences 429 230 3 3 20 149 10 1 13
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences nec 733 195 2 0 262 199 0 1 74
Family and consumer sciences and human sciences 116 75 1 0 9 18 4 0 9
Mathematics and statistics 1,005 348 0 1 82 502 6 0 66
Mathematics and applied mathematics 887 320 0 1 74 437 3 0 52
Statistics 118 28 0 0 8 65 3 0 14
Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies 1,095 373 10 3 201 359 12 0 137
Neurobiology and neuroscience 2,071 844 13 8 138 810 29 22 207
Physical sciences 7,269 2,037 9 4 728 3,522 13 11 945
Astronomy and astrophysics 440 170 0 0 52 166 0 1 51
Chemistry 3,742 1,051 8 3 301 1,889 6 4 480
Physics 2,819 778 1 1 268 1,416 7 6 342
Physical sciences nec 268 38 0 0 107 51 0 0 72
Psychology 1,177 662 12 2 143 308 6 0 44
Clinical psychology 76 47 1 0 18 7 0 0 3
Psychology, general 721 384 7 2 84 209 2 0 33
Psychology nec 380 231 4 0 41 92 4 0 8
Social sciences 1,193 604 14 5 185 285 11 7 82
Agricultural economics 64 18 2 0 14 19 0 0 11
Anthropology 152 89 1 0 26 26 0 0 10
Economics (except agricultural) 89 20 0 1 10 37 0 6 15
Geography 99 41 0 0 16 34 0 0 8
History and philosophy of science 11 5 0 0 0 5 0 0 1
Linguistics 38 17 0 0 6 11 2 0 2
Political science and government 319 179 8 4 35 69 8 1 15
Sociology 112 71 0 0 14 21 1 0 5
Sociology and anthropology 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Social sciences nec 306 161 3 0 64 63 0 0 15
Engineering 7,796 1,907 21 7 655 4,070 32 18 1,086
Aerospace engineering 201 57 0 0 24 91 0 0 29
Agricultural engineering 165 42 0 0 18 80 0 2 23
Architecture 16 4 0 0 4 3 0 0 5
Biomedical engineering 1,278 443 13 5 82 604 14 5 112
Chemical engineering 1,218 285 2 1 112 632 1 4 181
Civil engineering 706 205 2 1 62 346 1 1 88
Electrical engineering 1,186 233 3 0 78 687 10 5 170
Engineering science, mechanics, and physics 284 59 0 0 26 155 0 0 44
Industrial and manufacturing engineering 130 28 0 0 11 80 0 1 10
Mechanical engineering 1,080 238 0 0 119 564 3 0 156
Metallurgical and materials engineering 882 149 0 0 85 436 3 0 209
Mining engineering 10 4 0 0 0 5 0 0 1
Nuclear engineering 100 23 0 0 1 57 0 0 19
Petroleum engineering 72 8 1 0 0 62 0 0 1
Engineering nec 468 129 0 0 33 268 0 0 38
Health 18,975 5,389 1,971 377 1,868 6,617 1,285 496 972
Clinical medicine 16,165 4,487 1,820 347 1,532 5,612 1,224 434 709
Anesthesiology 424 89 48 18 32 154 41 28 14
Cardiovascular science 716 178 88 8 22 266 98 25 31
Endocrinology 355 96 58 7 11 123 29 22 9
Gastroenterology 304 62 60 7 4 83 63 14 11
Hematology 316 74 31 16 8 145 26 14 2
Neurology 1,027 314 88 12 145 329 55 16 68
Obstetrics and gynecology 297 58 64 3 21 105 27 3 16
Oncology and cancer research 2,206 651 100 57 32 1,117 142 51 56
Ophthalmology 567 119 19 12 10 255 100 34 18
Otorhinolaryngology 207 60 22 1 20 73 15 8 8
Pediatrics 1,191 399 208 13 69 431 24 11 36
Preventive medicine and community health 796 359 56 17 103 215 20 6 20
Psychiatry 1,060 578 59 26 106 243 11 8 29
Pulmonary disease 299 78 98 7 10 63 24 5 14
Radiology 1,011 228 86 11 81 454 87 17 47
Surgery 1,287 250 210 22 134 374 187 36 74
Clinical medicine nec 4,102 894 525 110 724 1,182 275 136 256
Other health 2,810 902 151 30 336 1,005 61 62 263
Communication disorders sciences 77 37 2 0 15 12 0 0 11
Dental sciences 287 95 23 3 19 106 11 11 19
Nursing science 107 78 0 0 5 22 0 0 2
Pharmaceutical sciences 1,007 260 38 7 116 442 10 18 116
Veterinary sciences 600 149 59 11 126 133 18 22 82
Other health nec 732 283 29 9 55 290 22 11 33
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, 2016.