(CBS Detroit) – “People need to know the situation,” said Dr. Jinping Xu, a professor at Wayne State University.
Xu points to several recently released reports outlining the current state of the medical profession, particularly as it relates to primary care physicians.
A recent report conducted by the Milbank Memorial Foundation, “The Health of Primary Care in the United States: 2024 Scorecard Report — Now You Can’t See Anyone,” reveals why access to primary care is deteriorating. It turns out there are five.
Another report conducted by the American Medical Association reached a similar conclusion: the primary care physician shortage is worsening.
“They predict a primary care shortage of 48,000 by 2034,” Xu said.
Xu said the primary care workforce is not growing fast enough relative to the population, and one of the main reasons is that primary care doctors are overworked and underpaid.
Xu said primary care physicians do important work, including providing preventive care that helps patients save money by avoiding expensive surgeries and illnesses.
“Primary care is the only specialty that can extend people's lives. [lives]increasing people's life expectancy,” Xu said.
Primary care physicians are paid much less than specialists, she said, which discourages medical students from entering the field.
“Nationwide, attending physicians work hard and take on many responsibilities, but they are not compensated as well compared to other specialties. That means you and I in the same class have the same amount of debt. If you choose a specialty, even though you have a “I choose to be a family physician, my salary is about half your salary.'' Mr. Xu said.
Going forward, Xu believes there needs to be more programs, like one called MIDOC, to help cover the educational costs of people who want to become family physicians.
However, this is a state-funded program, and Xu said lawmakers across the country need to do more to ensure that medical students are motivated to pursue family medicine, and that family medicine is needed to address the physician shortage. He said further steps needed to be taken to preserve medical care.
