By 2036, the U.S. could see a shortage of up to 86,000 physicians, according to a recent report from the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Here are nine major statistics on physician shortages based on three specialties:
Primary care
1. The report projects a primary care physician shortage between 20,200 and 40,400 physicians by 2036.
2. This is similar to the projections in 2021, which projected a shortage between 17,800 and 48,000 primary care physicians by 2034.
3. This discrepancy arises because there is a higher estimate of the number of primary care physicians entering the workforce in the last year.
Medical specialties
1. Internal medicine subspecialties are growing rapidly due to population growth and aging.
2. The supply of specialists is also growing rapidly, updating a gap ranging from an aggregate shortfall of 5,500 to a potential surplus of 3,700 by 2036.
3. This is lower than the 2021 report, which had a projected shortfall of between 3,800 and 13,400 surgeons.
Surgical specialties
1. The supply of surgeons is expected to remain relatively unchanged for the next 15 years.
2. There is a projected shortage between 10,100 and 19,000 surgeons by 2036.
3. The 2021 report projected a shortage of 15,800 to 30,200 physicians by 2034.