First-time applicants to medical schools around the nation reached an all time high, increasing 2.6 percent in 2011 – which could help put a dent in the expected shortage of doctors in the next several years.

The Association of American Medical Colleges, which reported that almost 33,000 students applied to the schools, said the shortage of doctors is expected to reach 90,000 by 2020 because of physician retirements and greater demand from aging baby boomers and the newly insured.

The federal health care reform law is expected to add 32 million Americans to the rolls.

 “We are very pleased that medicine continues to be an attractive career choice at a time when our health care system faces many challenges, including a growing need for doctors coupled with a serious physician shortage in the near future,” said Dr. Darrell G. Kirch, the association president and chief executive.

Kirch also said that the pool of applicants is more diverse, and one in four expressed interest in  practicing in underserved areas such as inner cities and rural communities. There already is a shortage of primary care physicians in underserved areas, though many doctors end up in specialties and in less needy areas because the pay is better.

There are programs that provide scholarships and loan forgiveness in exchange for serving as general practitioners in the underserved areas. Kirch called for more funding for the programs, and raising payments to primary care doctors for services.

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Physician shortage
        

CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield said this morning it will give out $1.28 million in scholarships to nurses who want to get Master's degrees and become professors.

The state's largest insurer is hoping to help tackle the nursing shortage by increasing the number of college faculty available to train new nurses.

The scholarships are part of a program called Project RN that CareFirst launched in 2007. CareFirst will award 16 two-year scholarships, or $80,000 per student. The scholarships will be distributed through colleges and universities in the insurer's coverage area, which includes Maryland, Washington D.C. and Virginia.

Nurses should apply directly through the schools. Schools that have participated in Project RN are Johns Hopkins University,  University of Maryland School of Nursing, Georgetown University, Howard University, Towson University, George Mason University, Marymount University and Catholic University.

Project RN has helped 14 nurses earn their graduate degrees over the years. Twelve nurses continue to teach undergraduate classes.

Posted by Andrea Walker at 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Physician shortage
        

My Sunday story focused on a key question in health care reform -- will there be enough doctors to go around? With plans to extend insurance to some 47 million people, the current primary care doctor shortage will only get worse, many say. One solution could be to increase the role of nurse practitioners. 

The piece generated positive feedback and lots of interesting responses from readers across the spectrum about primary care, nursing and the reform debate. I also heard from a group of providers who felt overlooked: physician assistants.

I hope folks don't see this as an intentional slight, as the story was a narrowly-focused piece looking at one slice of the health care debate. But it is true that using more physician assistants is among the solutions being tossed around to help fill the primary care gaps. And some observers think they could play an important role.

Continue reading "Physician assistants and health care reform" »

Posted by Kelly Brewington at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)
Categories: Health care reform, Physician shortage
        

Recently I trekked out to far western Maryland -- more than 3 hours from here -- to see how Dr. Ken Buczynski practices medicine (see story here). He and I had spoken over the winter for a story I was writing about the state's physician shortage. This 35-year-old doc is the one-stop shop for health care -- delivering babies, treating their moms and dads, their grandparents, even their great-grandparents. He performs epidurals for pregnant women because Garrett County's lone anesthesiologist doesn't have the time -- or inclination -- to do them. He does spinal taps when necessary. He is even trained to do colonoscopies. I had to meet this guy.

He's only been out there for 5 years, but he has 10,000 patients. He'll see them all each year, maybe not in his office, but when he is buying paint at the Lowe's or toilet paper at the Wal-Mart, or when he is in church and they are sitting in the pew across from him and his growing family (three kids under 6 and another due in September). There is no anonymity to this kind of doctoring. Even when he isn't on call, he is on display. He is always recognized as the doctor in the house.

It takes a special kind of person to put down roots like he has in a place so small and needy. ...

Continue reading "My appointment with 'Dr. B' " »

Posted by Stephanie Desmon at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Physician shortage