TRANSCRIPT
Interviewer: Both you and your husband’s primary care physicians have left their jobs in primary care. Can you talk about this?
Jessica: As a patient who has had many different specialists, I know how important the primary care physician is. They are the person in your care team that needs to know when to send you to a specialist.
Jessica: It was my primary care physician who found the lump in my breast, and sent me right away for a mammogram, that ended up leading to my invasive ductal carcinoma diagnosis, a form of breast cancer.
Jessica: But, it is primary care physicians who are feeling such a burden and much burnout. I can understand why they might feel burnout to the point that they leave the profession, like mine did.
EVIDENCE & RESEARCH
According to data published in 2020 by the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges),
“the United States could see an estimated shortage of between 54,100 and 139,000 physicians,
including shortfalls in both primary and specialty care, by 2033.”
According to an article Paging more doctors: California’s worsening physician shortage, “California is facing a growing shortage of primary care physicians, one that is already afflicting rural areas and low-income inner city areas, and is forecasted to impact millions of people within ten years. Not enough newly minted doctors are going into primary care, and a third of the doctors in the state are over 55 and looking to retire soon, according to a study by the Healthforce Center at UC-San Francisco.“
“The federal government recommends 60 to 80 primary care doctors per 100,000 people. In California, the number already is down to just 50 — and in particular areas, it’s even lower.“
Location:
USA
Barriers to Public Health: Physician Burnout, Health Care Professional Shortage
HEALTH CONVERSATIONS: When Aware We Care 