US Faces Shortage of Doctors; 150,000 Short in 15 Years

The Wall Street Journal is out with an article detailing the burgeoning demand for doctors in the United States. By some estimates, the United States will face a shortage of 150,000 doctors in fifteen years. Healthcare reform is anticipated to increase the demand – primarily at the PCP level – and medical schools are having trouble keeping up.

At current graduation and training rates, the nation could face a shortage of as many as 150,000 doctors in the next 15 years, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

That shortfall is predicted despite a push by teaching hospitals and medical schools to boost the number of U.S. doctors, which now totals about 954,000.

The greatest demand will be for primary-care physicians. These general practitioners, internists, family physicians and pediatricians will have a larger role under the new law, coordinating care for each patient.

The U.S. has 352,908 primary-care doctors now, and the college association estimates that 45,000 more will be needed by 2020. But the number of medical-school students entering family medicine fell more than a quarter between 2002 and 2007.

Some other notables from the WSJ article:

• The law offers sweeteners to encourage more people to enter medical professions, and a 10% Medicare pay boost for primary-care doctors.
• As of last October, four new medical schools enrolled a total of about 190 students, and 12 medical schools raised the enrollment of first-year students by a total of 150 slots, according to the AAMC. Some 18,000 students entered U.S. medical schools in the fall of 2009, the AAMC says.
• There are about 110,000 resident positions in the U.S., according to the AAMC.

The following graphic produced by the WSJ also highlights where the shortage falls:

[via WSJ]