Over the last several years, there has been a steady and significant shift from physicians entering on J-1 status to train in the US to the H-1B visa. New documentation is showing a further decline of 88 waivers in the most recent year. The shift is the consequence of many factors, but the bottom line is that the H-1B is a friendlier visa as far as entering the country and remaining when the program is finished. If the J-1 programs are to survive, the J-1 program will need to be made more attractive or the H-1B visa will need to have elements to make it more closely resemble the H-1B. Look for proposals to address the problems in the next session of Congress.
See the spreadsheet here.