According to a new study published in the Annals of Family Medicine, the US will see a shortage of 52,000 primary care physicians (PCPs) by the year 2025.
This poses some problems, as PCPs have many benefits and are helpful to patients. Since they see their patients regularly, patients avoid multiple tests or unnecessary ones by instead going to many specialists. Costs are lower for the same reason. Also, coordination of medications is easier since they all originate from the same place.
Medical students see the benefits of going into primary care; however, "When young people graduate from medical school $250,000 of debt and see they can make $150,000 a year as a primary care physician, or be a cardiologist and make $450,000 a year, which one do they pick?" says Dr. Perry Pungo, Vice President for Education at the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Medical students see the benefits of going into primary care, but feel, "disenfranchised by the whole process" says PJ Tiberio, a third year medical student at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York. Fighting with insurance companies, having lower reimbursement rates, and being pressured to increase the volume of patients by decreasing how long they are seen are some reasons medical students would prefer to specialize in other fields.
Primary care is valuable because of the, "holistic approach the doctor takes when assessing a patient’s health. Building a stable relationship with a primary care doctor can help a person head off chronic diseases that incur significant financial and quality-of-life costs," say medical professionals.
For the full article, visit http://www.aalatimes.com/2012/12/08/us-facing-drastic-shortage-of-doctors/.
This poses some problems, as PCPs have many benefits and are helpful to patients. Since they see their patients regularly, patients avoid multiple tests or unnecessary ones by instead going to many specialists. Costs are lower for the same reason. Also, coordination of medications is easier since they all originate from the same place.
Medical students see the benefits of going into primary care; however, "When young people graduate from medical school $250,000 of debt and see they can make $150,000 a year as a primary care physician, or be a cardiologist and make $450,000 a year, which one do they pick?" says Dr. Perry Pungo, Vice President for Education at the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Medical students see the benefits of going into primary care, but feel, "disenfranchised by the whole process" says PJ Tiberio, a third year medical student at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York. Fighting with insurance companies, having lower reimbursement rates, and being pressured to increase the volume of patients by decreasing how long they are seen are some reasons medical students would prefer to specialize in other fields.
Primary care is valuable because of the, "holistic approach the doctor takes when assessing a patient’s health. Building a stable relationship with a primary care doctor can help a person head off chronic diseases that incur significant financial and quality-of-life costs," say medical professionals.
For the full article, visit http://www.aalatimes.com/2012/12/08/us-facing-drastic-shortage-of-doctors/.
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