There's a Severe Doctors Shortage and It's Going to Continue for a While!

Sean Endicott with Medical Placement Company Frontera Search sees it every day. "We've all known this was coming. Despite the best efforts we have been unable to keep up with the demand. Two our of 5 physicians are likely to retire in the next decade." He says medical schools are allowing in larger numbers of enrollees but still can't keep up with the demand. "During the Covid years we saw Telehealth was highly promoted and was used at a level that we had never before seen. Now a lot of the patients are feeling better about the tool as well!"

The Supply of doctors in the U.S. and Canada is in Critical Condition

Endicott says more practices are using physicians assistants and nurse practitioners to ease the load, but they will continue to look for more answers. "We find ourselves now with a shortage that is going to take a multi-faceted solution to be able to address the supply issue that we're finding ourselves faced with.

He says med schools can't keep up, after Covid many practicing doctors want more time away from their patients with paperwork taking up more of their time. The impact will be felt harder in rural areas where one physician retiring could mean the end of medical care there.

photo:Getty

Senior patient using mask looking through window at hospital

Patient suffering long wait time for doctor.Photo: Getty Images


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