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Table 49. Postdoctoral appointees in science, engineering, and health in all institutions, by type of doctoral degree, primary mechanism of support, and field: 2016

Type of doctoral degree and primary mechanism of support All science, engineering, and health Science and engineering Health
Total Science Engineering Total Clinical medicinea Other health
All degree types 64,712 45,737 37,941 7,796 18,975 16,165 2,810
Fellowships 5,973 3,889 3,415 474 2,084 1,736 348
Research grants 40,542 31,186 25,352 5,834 9,356 7,797 1,559
Traineeships 3,778 1,741 1,639 102 2,037 1,802 235
Other support 14,419 8,921 7,535 1,386 5,498 4,830 668
Doctoral degreeb 47,377 35,371 29,394 5,977 12,006 10,099 1,907
Fellowships 3,825 2,878 2,571 307 947 822 125
Research grants 31,350 24,418 19,870 4,548 6,932 5,778 1,154
Traineeships 2,522 1,360 1,302 58 1,162 997 165
Other support 9,680 6,715 5,651 1,064 2,965 2,502 463
Professional degreeb 4,113 857 804 53 3,256 3,044 212
Fellowships 778 96 92 4 682 631 51
Research grants 1,148 403 371 32 745 679 66
Traineeships 569 78 76 2 491 461 30
Other support 1,618 280 265 15 1,338 1,273 65
Dual degreeb 1,201 328 303 25 873 781 92
Fellowships 160 44 38 6 116 107 9
Research grants 499 182 167 15 317 262 55
Traineeships 90 19 17 2 71 69 2
Other support 452 83 81 2 369 343 26
Doctoral degree type unknown 12,021 9,181 7,440 1,741 2,840 2,241 599
Fellowships 1,210 871 714 157 339 176 163
Research grants 7,545 6,183 4,944 1,239 1,362 1,078 284
Traineeships 597 284 244 40 313 275 38
Other support 2,669 1,843 1,538 305 826 712 114
a Clinical medicine includes postdoctoral appointees (postdocs) in anesthesiology; cardiology; endocrinology; gastroenterology; hematology; neurology; obstetrics and gynecology; oncology and cancer research; ophthalmology; otorhinolaryngology; pediatrics; preventive medicine and community health; psychiatry; pulmonary disease; radiology; surgery; and clinical medicine, not elsewhere classified.
b 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.