The US healthcare system is suffering from a doctor shortage. Of those, primary care physicians are often hit the hardest, posing a huge problem as the country's population grows and ages.
According to a recent report by UnitedHealth Group, 44 million US residents live in a county with a primary care physician shortage. That's 13% of the national population, with residents living in rural areas five times more likely to be impacted by the shortage.
Part of this problem arises from the medical school pipeline — there are simply not enough medical students choosing to go into primary care. In 2017, only 17% of medical school graduates chose a primary care residency program. Although the amount of practicing primary care physicians is expected to increase by 6% in the next seven years, the estimated shortage could still grow from 18,000 to 49,000 in 2030....
