Health News
An aging population, a high number of doctors getting ready to retire, and medical students opting to specialize for better pay and hours are all factors contributing to an expected shortage in primary-care doctors in Louisville.
- Doctors Of Osteopathy Are An Increasing Answer To The Doctor Shortage, As More Osteopathic Medical Schools Open
Doctors of osteopathy could be part of the solution to Kentucky's well-documented primary care doctor shortage, Laurel Black reports for The Paducah Sun. "The American Association of Medical Colleges predicts that a growing population of aging...
- Panel Of Physicians At National Conference Discuss Future Of Rural Primary Care, How To Solve Doctor Shortages
More needs to be done to address the shortage of primary-care physicians, a big problem in rural areas and much of Kentucky, according to a panel of physicians at "Rural Health Journalism 2014," Kris Hickman writes for the Association of Health Care...
- Family Physicians Group Objects To Cuts To Primary-care Physician Training Programs; Cites Doctor Shortage, Which Is Worse In Ky.
Facing an already-existing shortage of primary care in the country and state, the American Academy of Family Physicians sent a letter to U.S. Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, saying the committee's 2014...
- Doctor Shortage News: Residencies Are Filling The Pond With Primary Care Doctors, But U.s. And Ky. Need An Ocean Of Them
Despite a critical shortage of primary care in the country, only 25 percent of newly educated doctors go into this field, and even worse for the mostly-rural Kentucky, less than 5 percent go on to practice in rural areas, says a study by researchers at...
- More Residency Placements Will Be Needed As Medical School Enrollments Rise, Perhaps By 30 Percent Through 2016
Aimed at addressing expected physician shortages, enrollment at U.S. medical schools is on target to increase by 30 percent by 2016, the Medical School Enrollment Survey has found. But even if enrollment rises through expansion of medical schools and...
Health News
Serious shortage of primary-care physicians expected in Louisville
An aging population, a high number of doctors getting ready to retire, and medical students opting to specialize for better pay and hours are all factors contributing to an expected shortage in primary-care doctors in Louisville. "By 2020, Jefferson County will need 455 new primary-care doctors ? almost as many as the number that work in local medical practices now," reports Patrick Howington for The Courier-Journal. (C-J photo by Matt Stone)
"We see a real workforce crisis in the future ? in the immediate future," said Bill Wagner, executive director of Family Health Centers, a group of community clinics that serve low-income residents.
One survey of local physicians found about a third of doctors are 56 or older and are planning to retire within 10 years. Couple that statistic with the fact that the number of American medical-school seniors who entered family-medicine residencies fell from 17 percent in 1997 to 8 percent last year, Association of American Medical Colleges figures show. Part of the reason for the drop is the comparatively low salaries primary care physicians make. On average, they are paid as little as half as much as specialists, such as radiologists and invasive cardiologists.
Though doctor shortages have typically been seen as a rural problem, that's not so anymore. "No matter where you're talking about, we clearly have an aging primary care workforce," because primary care has been "so unpopular," said Dan Varga, chief medical officer of Kentucky's St. Joseph hospitals and a former Louisville internist. (Read more)
- Doctors Of Osteopathy Are An Increasing Answer To The Doctor Shortage, As More Osteopathic Medical Schools Open
Doctors of osteopathy could be part of the solution to Kentucky's well-documented primary care doctor shortage, Laurel Black reports for The Paducah Sun. "The American Association of Medical Colleges predicts that a growing population of aging...
- Panel Of Physicians At National Conference Discuss Future Of Rural Primary Care, How To Solve Doctor Shortages
More needs to be done to address the shortage of primary-care physicians, a big problem in rural areas and much of Kentucky, according to a panel of physicians at "Rural Health Journalism 2014," Kris Hickman writes for the Association of Health Care...
- Family Physicians Group Objects To Cuts To Primary-care Physician Training Programs; Cites Doctor Shortage, Which Is Worse In Ky.
Facing an already-existing shortage of primary care in the country and state, the American Academy of Family Physicians sent a letter to U.S. Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, saying the committee's 2014...
- Doctor Shortage News: Residencies Are Filling The Pond With Primary Care Doctors, But U.s. And Ky. Need An Ocean Of Them
Despite a critical shortage of primary care in the country, only 25 percent of newly educated doctors go into this field, and even worse for the mostly-rural Kentucky, less than 5 percent go on to practice in rural areas, says a study by researchers at...
- More Residency Placements Will Be Needed As Medical School Enrollments Rise, Perhaps By 30 Percent Through 2016
Aimed at addressing expected physician shortages, enrollment at U.S. medical schools is on target to increase by 30 percent by 2016, the Medical School Enrollment Survey has found. But even if enrollment rises through expansion of medical schools and...