12.     Primary Care Physician Shortage

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that according to the Association of American Medical Colleges, by the year 2025, there will be a shortage of 46,000 primary care physicians in the United States.  This shortage is due to many factors, including lower salaries than specialist physicians, disinterest by medical students, and retiring primary care physicians.  Primary care physicians include those practicing Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, Pediatric Medicine, and Geriatric Medicine.

The shortage may turn out to be even higher than predicted when the new healthcare legislation takes effect, adding 32 million people to the insurance rolls over the next few years.

Resolving the shortage may mean that primary care physicians receive higher salaries comparable to other medical specialties.  A recent medical school graduate can have over $100,000 in debt for school loans.  A primary care physician will generally earn around $150,000 per year, while a specialist can earn around $300,000 or more per year, thus making medical specialties more attractive to new physicians.

Other ways to resolve the shortage include increasing medical school admissions, increasing residency openings at teaching hospitals and allowing more foreign physicians to work in the U.S.  Other medical industry experts advocate transferring many of the duties performed by a Family Medicine physician to a nurse practitioner.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_679113.html