Healthcare Professional Shortages

The American population is steadily shifting towards a larger proportion of elderly versus young people, which increases the demand for healthcare.  We all know that people require more care as they age due to the progression of chronic diseases, weakened immune systems, increased cancer risk, and other reasons.  We would expect our healthcare system to gradually make changes to expand services and meet these growing needs.  However, satisfying the demand for care is proving to be extremely difficult due to growing provider shortages.


According to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), there will be an estimated shortage of about 124,000 physicians in the US healthcare system by 2034.  In other terms, that’s 122,000 physicians who will not be treating patients and thousands more who will be overwhelmed with care demands.  The growing demand for physicians and other healthcare professionals is primarily due to our aging demographic and the corresponding increase in healthcare needs.  Although rural and underserved areas are already experiencing a shortage of providers, this shortage is expected to be felt everywhere.


I find this situation to be somewhat ironic considering the number of students who are rejected from professional training programs every year, particularly medical school.  As a student, I’m frustrated because there are plenty of young Americans with dreams of becoming healthcare professionals, but they are faced with barriers to education or plainly rejected from schools.  I feel that we can combat the healthcare professional shortage by reducing financial barriers to education, such as making professional schooling more affordable.  I also think we can expand class sizes without sacrificing the quality of education that is provided.  With the number of graduates increasing, educational institutions should also focus on increasing the number of postgraduate training opportunities - residencies, fellowships, etc.  If we are expecting a shortage of healthcare professionals and major barriers to providing quality healthcare, our education system needs to respond immediately.


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