TheCypressTimes : HEALTH CARE AND PHYSICIAN SHORTAGES

TheCypressTimes : HEALTH CARE AND PHYSICIAN SHORTAGES: "Doctors are forecasted to be in short supply. Although plenty of physicians are currently in practice across the country, surveys indicate that the availability is on the decline. According to AAMC.org, over the past several years, a growing number of national and state or specialty specific studies indicate that the U.S. physician workforce is facing current or future shortages.

Since 2002, there have been at least 24 studies of current or future state physician workforce needs. In nearly all of these studies, the underserved and elderly populations are most likely to be affected. Additionally, many of the state reports point out shortages in specialties that are featured in the specialty report section, including allergy and immunology, cardiology, child psychiatry, dermatology, endocrinology, neurosurgery, primary care, and psychiatry. If physician supply and use patterns stay the same, the United States will experience a shortage of 124,000 full-time physicians by 2025. The report details shortages by state and specialty and can be found at http://www.aamc.org/workforce/stateandspecialty/recentworkforcestudies.pdf .

According to AmedNews.com (American Medical News--AMN), the number of physicians, especially primary care physicians, in the pipeline is not sufficient to keep pace with the needs of a growing and aging population. The problem is not that the supply of physicians, including those in primary care, isn't growing -- because it is. It's just not growing fast enough. Physicians, like the rest of the population, are reaching retirement age in large numbers. In 2017, more than 24,000 will turn 63, and the number of new physicians entering practice each year is about 26,000--just about enough to maintain the status quo. If suddenly, 20,000 to 60,000 more doctors retire because the stock market is back up, America will be in trouble. The problem, according to AMN, has been highlighted by efforts at health system reform that, if successful, likely will require additional primary care physicians."