CHICAGO — A doctors group expects a serious shortfall of family physicians in at least five states, including Arizona, by 2020.
Population growth and rising numbers of elderly people in Arizona, Nevada, Florida, Texas and Idaho will make the need in those states most critical, said Dr. Perry Pugno of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
"As Americans age, they need more health-care interventions, and primary care is the most cost-effective way to help them maintain their health," Pugno said.
The number of U.S. medical graduates going into family medicine has been falling — by more than 50 percent from 1997 to 2005 — with many young doctors preferring specialties that pay better and offer more control over work hours.
The group scheduled a rally in Washington, D.C., today to coincide with the release of its work-force report, which estimates the number of family doctors must grow by 39 percent during the next 14 years to keep up with the nation's needs.
People are also reading…
All states will need more family doctors by 2020, the report says, with Nevada topping the list.
The doctors group wants Congress to increase Medicare payments to family doctors to help ease the shortage, Pugno said. The group also urges voters to question candidates about health care, an issue as important to those polled by the group as the war in Iraq and terrorism, Pugno said.
There are about 100,000 licensed family doctors in the United States.
In an effort to remedy the oncoming severe shortage of family physicians in Arizona, the University of Arizona College of Medicine is launching a second residency program in family practice and primary care, to be run out of University Physicians Hospital at Kino.
Scheduled to open in 2008, the new program will be aimed specifically at increasing the number of family-practice physicians in rural Arizona.
"This shortage has been a major concern, at all medical schools," said Dr. Rebecca Potter, the UA's associate dean for graduate medical education. "There are not enough medical students going into primary care, and the problem is especially acute in rural areas. The new residency program aims to specifically address this need."
A major factor discouraging family-care doctors in Arizona is the state's domination by managed-care insurance, said Dr. Victoria Murrain, a UA family-practice physician and special assistant to the dean.
"That tends to depress family-physician salaries, and it means doctors who train here look to other states to set up practice where they can likely earn more," Murrain said.
Arizona Daily Star
