By 2030, the U.S. may be short as many as 120,000 physicians, according to an Association of American Medical Colleges report.
Here are five things to know.
1. The analysis reveals the nation could see a shortage of between 42,600 and 121,300 physicians by 2030.
2. The U.S. may see a primary care physician shortage of between 14,800 and 49,300 physicians and non-primary care physician shortage of between 33,800 and 72,700 physicians.
3. The increasing aging population is a main factor of physician shortage. Also, one-third of practicing physicians will be older than 65 in the next 10 years.
4. These projections align with previous estimates reported in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
5. The AAMC recommends a multi-pronged approach to reverse this problem, beyond just training more physicians. Medical schools and teaching hospitals are focused on team-based, interprofessional care as well as creating new care delivery and payment models.