Rural Primary Care Physician Workforce Expansion: An Opportunity for Bipartisan Legislation

Abstract

The primary care physician workforce crisis has eluded solution for many years. Concerns raised 5 years ago about nadir of interest in primary care careers by medical students are now realized, as the proportion of residency graduates from our nation's teaching hospitals entering primary care careers, particularly to underserved rural areas, has hit an all-time low.1,2 There is an estimated shortage of 16 000 primary care physicians (PCPs) necessary to meet today's needs; this deficit will grow to 52 000 in the next decade.3 An aging population, with an aging population of physicians themselves, will exacerbate this situation. When the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is fully implemented, more than 25 million newly insured Americans will rely not only on the existing deficient physician workforce but also on physicians currently in training. We believe that expansion of primary care graduate medical education (GME) to address this shortage is urgently needed, and represents an opportunity for bipartisan support of GME expansion legislation.