Who’s Going to be a General Practitioner

November 20, 2008 by George Van Antwerp 0 Comments

I was just talking with someone yesterday about what happens as the retail clinic concept (e.g., Minute Clinic) and virtual consultations (e.g., American Well) take off. Given that primary care physicians (aka General Practitioners) have seen increased reimbursement pressure, will these trends finally make that the least desirable job coming out of medical school? [Which would be a shame in my opinion.]

In a survey done by The Physician’s Foundation in May, they had 12,000 responses from US physicians that confirmed this. [They define primary care physicians (PCPs) as family practitioners, general internists, pediatricians, and OB/GYNs.]

78% said there is a shortage of PCPs.
49% said that over the next 3 years they plan to see less patients or stop practicing.
60% said they would not recommend medicine as a career.