Dive Brief:
- The share of family physicians working in rural areas decreased 11% from 2017 to 2023, according to a study published this month in the Annals of Family Medicine.
- The Northeast saw the greatest loss in rural family physicians over the study period at 15.3%, while the West lost just 3.2% of rural family doctors.
- The data adds to concerns about physician shortages nationwide. America is expected to need more doctors than ever by 2030 to care for aging Baby Boomers, yet physicians say they’re struggling to hire and retain qualified talent amid high levels of burnout.
Dive Insight:
The research team used data from the American Medical Association to map changes in the family physician population over time. Overall, there was a net loss of 1,303 rural family physicians across the six year study period.
The attrition is “astonishing,” Dr. Colleen Fogarty, a professor of family medicine at the University of Rochester and the lead author of the study, said in a press release.
“The data reflect what we already experience and know about physician shortages, but ... the speed at which this has happened is remarkable and terrible,” Fogarty said.
Even a small loss of family physicians can have a ripple effect in rural communities, according to the study. For example, 11 family doctors left their jobs between 2021 and 2022 in the West. That attrition represents a potential loss of primary care access for 16,500 to 38,500 people, researchers estimated.
“The implications of the loss go beyond numerical calculations and represent economic, social, and interpersonal losses for communities so affected,” the study noted.
The dearth of rural family physicians comes as young adults are moving to rural areas at the highest rate in almost a century, in part due to widespread remote work options. But they may struggle to find adequate healthcare, according to the study. Rural healthcare providers often face more challenges than urban facilities, and are more likely to be at heightened risk of closure.
The study suggests doctors are leaving in part because of overwork and burnout — a common narrative among researchers studying healthcare worker attrition.
Family physicians can carry patient panels between 1,000 and 3,500 people, according to the study. Losing just one family physician in a rural area can mean an increase in burden for another overworked colleague.
Fogarty worries that Trump administration changes to the H-1B visa process, announced in September, could make provider shortages worse in rural areas.
“Fewer U.S. medical students are choosing family medicine as a specialty, and medical students from rural areas remain underrepresented compared with their non-rural peers,” Fogarty said. “Over the years, international students choosing family medicine have offset the shortage, as they have become valuable and integral members of their rural communities, but current uncertainty around visa requirements for residents and practicing physicians adds another layer of concern about the family medicine workforce.”
