Students offer insight as America faces shortage of doctors

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (Exponent) - As the number of medical students graduating in primary care falls and demand continues to rise, two Purdue students pursuing careers in medicine suggest that the solution to solving an oncoming shortage lies in addressing underlying concerns of medical students.

According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the present shortage of doctors in the United States stands at 13,000. Within the next two years, roughly 30 million Americans will be insured under the Affordable Care Act. This, in conjunction with an aging population, is projected to significantly increase demand for primary care providers, ballooning the shortage to almost 50,000 over the next 12 years.

Even as demand for primary care providers grows, however, medical students are choosing to pursue other branches of medicine. A recent study, published in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, took a survey of nearly 17,000 third year medical students and concluded that only 21.5 percent were pursuing careers in primary care, with the remainder opting for more specialized professions.

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