AAMC Physician Shortage Study

There has been an ongoing debate about a physician shortage. During the 1960s as medical schools were expanding, Federal health agencies and certain advisory bodies warned of a coming surplus of physicians. Studies were consistent in making confident predictions that we faced a troubling surplus of physicians. For years, only a few experts were waving a red flag. Few healthcare experts were willing to admit that a shortage of doctors was coming, despite the growing difficulty hospital administrators and physician recruiters were experiencing recruiting physicians, and the increasing number of published surveys showing an increased demand for physicians.