Workforce Experts Share Their Perspectives on Physician Shortage Crisis

Edward Salsberg, M.P.A., Associate Vice President, Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), and Jean Moore, M.S.N., Director of the Center for Health Workforce Studies (CHWS) at SUNY Albany, addressed conference participants regarding the national and state physician shortages.

Mr. Salsberg talked about the fact that the physician population is aging and retiring at a time when the baby boomers will need more health care. AAMC has recommended a 30% increase in the number of physicians by 2015 by not only increasing the number of slots at medical schools but also increasing graduate medical education (GME) to accommodate the increase. Diversity in medicine and geographic distribution are important in the growth of the physician population. He indicated that primary care as well as other specialty positions are in demand. He spoke about our country’s strong reliance on international medical school graduates (IMGs) as a vital source in a period of international uncertainty. He also cited a decrease in the number of U.S. physicians who are specializing in family medicine, internal medicine, OB/GYN, and pediatrics with the opposite being true of IMGs. Read the rest of this article>>>

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