States grapple with shortage of rural doctors

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

For at least the next dozen years, rural areas will continue to have only about two-thirds of the primary care physicians they need, according to a report released Monday.

The nonprofit Commonwealth Fund based its analysis on federal health workforce data. Its report comes just days after states applied for portions of a $50 billion rural health fund included in the broad tax and spending law President Donald Trump signed in July. Some states want to use the federal money to expand their rural residency programs, as physicians who complete their residencies in rural areas are more likely to practice in one.

About 43 million people live in rural areas without enough primary care physicians, according to the report. Across the country, nearly all — 92% — of rural counties are considered primary care professional shortage areas, compared to 83% of nonrural counties. Forty-five percent of rural counties had five or fewer primary care doctors in 2023. Roughly 200 rural counties lacked one altogether.

Nationally, the report found there was an average of one physician per 2,881 rural residents. States in the South had 3,411 patients per physician, whereas states in the Northeast had 1,979 residents per physician.

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/11/20/repub/states-grapple-with-shortage-of-rural-doctors/

[markodochartaigh]

1. "For at least the next dozen years, rural areas will continue to have only about two-thirds of the primary care

physicians they need."

Balderdash!

After the damage done to Obamacare ripples through the system, and rural hospitals find themselves with far less federal support, and after the damage done to Medicaid and SSDI take their toll, and after the number of foreign students in medical programs drop, rural areas will find themselves with far less than two thirds of the doctors that they need.
Rural areas will have plenty of drugs, guns, churches, thoughts, and prayers. But US students who could never have become physicians under the US educational system will still need anatomy and physiology courses to become undertakers.

[snot]

2. I've been wondering if there's a shortage of doctors generally.

I used to be able to get in to see a specialist within 1 - 3 weeks; lately it's been literally 3 - 4 MONTHS, even in a large urban center.

[Hassler]

3. Memo to MAGA Land: heal thyself.

[Jilly_in_VA]

4. I remember some years ago

a town somewhere in the south, I forget where but I think it may have been in Arkansas or Missouri, decided to sponsor a young man from there who wanted to become a doctor. They raised money for his tuition etc. on the promise that he would come back and be their doctor, and he did. AFAIK he is still practicing there. This could be one way to get a primary care practitioner. Of course, if you don't have a young person in your area with those ambitions, the next best thing you could do, I suppose, would be to sponsor an immigrant doctor. Before you turn up your nose at that, I have to tell you that when I was volunteering with RAM (Remote Area Medical), I often drove through some very rural areas and would see a doctor's office with a surprising name that didn't seem to "belong" to the area. I know when I worked in east Tennessee, in hospitals but especially in home health, I would often deal with foreign doctors who had settled in rural areas. One in particular that I dealt with was a Pakistani Muslim, very nice guy, who practiced in a small town where he was the only primary care doctor. He'd been there for about 10 years and his patients absolutely loved him. One of my patients said of him, "Well sure, he's a Muslim, but he's our Muslim!" They wouldn't hear anyone talk him down.

[Raftergirl]

5. A lot of med students don't want to be primary care physicians because the money isn't anywhere near

what specialists earn. But, the ones who do go into primary care will make a lot more money working in a populated urban/suburban area than in rural areas. Thus the shortage is more acute in rural America.