primary-care physicians, MD

May 6, 2008 — The United States will suffer a shortage of primary-care physicians as the workload will increase by 29 percent by 2025, according to a study published online April 29 in Health Affairs, a public-policy journal.

The authors of the study, Jack M. Colwill, James M. Cultice, and Robin L. Kruse, predict a 14 percent increased workload for care of children by pediatricians and family physicians, but the supply of generalists for adult care will increase 7 percent.

The study addresses medical healthcare availability, not chiropractic, but the authors say they expect deficits of 35,000 to 44,000 adult-care generalists, which threaten the nation’s foundation of primary-care for adults.

Source: Health Affairs, www.healthaffairs.org