Recent articles point to three reasons for the upcoming (some might argue current) shortage of primary care physicians. First, the population is getting older, with the percentage of Americans over 65 increasing from 12.9 percent to 19 percent between now and 2030, and there is a greater demand for primary care doctors. Second, there is a bottleneck in the timeline of medical training – there is a shortfall of residencies for new medical school graduates. Most residency programs are subsidized by the federal government, but the number of the subsidized positions was frozen by Congress in 1997. Although primary care physicians are greatly needed, they aren’t greatly lucrative to hospitals, as compared to other areas of expertise like neurology, so the positions are not as prevalent. Finally, with the advent of the Affordable Care Act, there are scores of new patients who will need primary care physicians.
In New Mexico, for instance, the state is so concerned about the shortage that it is implementing a program to incentivize primary care physicians and nurses into practice. It is also budgeting for increased medical education funding, medical residencies and loan repayment programs.
