Opinion: Policymakers must take action on the physician shortage
The pressures of the last three and a half years have affected every corner of the health care landscape, but nowhere is the effect more evident than the country’s physician workforce. Burnout, staffing shortages, financial challenges, administrative burden, and two U.S. Supreme Court decisions that stand to stifle diversity and representation in medicine have hamstrung physicians across specialties and settings — in rural and urban communities, in hospitals, clinics, and independent practices.
These workforce challenges are compounded by the fact that America — both physicians and our patient population — is also aging, and the number of available doctors is shrinking. Nearly 334,000 health care professionals left the workforce in 2021. Further, the Health Resources and Services Administration estimates that by 2025, there will be a shortage of more than 250,000 mental health professionals, including psychiatrists.
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