Introduction
In the previous years we have been experiencing a shortage on the supply of physicians, issue that according to the projections will not be changing any time soon.
Given this situation we could probably already answer the question and risk to say that it is a good idea economy-wise to become a doctor, seeing that at least for the next 10 years the supply will not be anywhere close to satisfy the demand.
There’s many factors that affect this increase in demand such as aging of population, the Baby Boomers that want to remain active and look for and use more healthcare as well as the next generations after them. It is also important to mention that an increase on productivity of healthcare could reduce the gap between demand of supply, but after many years and different attempts almost nothing has been achieved, since healthcare has become more and more complex.
Here is a little extract from AAMC website talking about the issue of physicians shortage of supply:
The number of federally funded residency training positions was capped by Congress in 1997 by the Balanced Budget Act. The 26,000 residency positions available for first year trainees will not be enough to provide training for the students graduating from medical school as early as 2016. In addition, Medicare support of graduate medical education (GME) includes paying its share of the costs of training, as well as supporting the higher costs of critical care services, such as emergency rooms and burn units, on which communities rely. Without adequate support, the ability of teaching hospitals to provide essential patient care is threatened.
Demand determinants:
1. Population
In this situation, the main determination is population needs, because, the country is
