Weekend Health Clinic: Shortage of doctors EVERYWHERE
on March 6th, 2005 at 12:10 pmBodiford experienced what many Americans may soon face: a shortage of physicians that makes it hard to find convenient, quality health care. The shortage will worsen as 79 million baby boomers reach retirement age and demand more medical care unless the nation starts producing more doctors, according to several new studies.
The country needs to train 3,000 to 10,000 more physicians a year  up from the current 25,000  to meet the growing medical needs of an aging, wealthy nation, the studies say. Because it takes 10 years to train a doctor, the nation will have a shortage of 85,000 to 200,000 doctors in 2020 unless action is taken soon.
The predictions of a doctor shortage represent an abrupt about-face for the medical profession. For the past quarter-century, the American Medical Association and other industry groups have predicted a glut of doctors and worked to limit the number of new physicians. In 1994, the Journal of the American Medical Association predicted a surplus of 165,000 doctors by 2000. (more…)
I think that this completely debunks the whole argument of those that want to paint the picture that health care is limited when it comes to serving black folks in inner-city/rural America. This is a nationwide trend that is only being spotlighted (IMO) because the rest of America is feeling the shortage.
