[NPInfo] Why are we not mentioned?

[David Mittman]




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Number of US primary care doctors down
Tue Feb 12, 6:16 PM ET

Fewer American doctors are focusing on primary care, but the decline  
is being covered by physicians from other countries. The General  
Accountability Office said Tuesday that as of 2006 there were 22,146  
American doctors in residency programs in the United States  
specializing in primary care.

That was down from 23,801 in 1995, the research arm of Congress told  
the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

"It is troubling to me that the number of Americans pursuing a career  
in primary care has declined," said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

Overall growth in the number of primary-care physicians "has been  
totally due to the number of international medical students training  
in America," Sanders said. "We are increasingly dependent on  
international medical school graduates to meet our needs. Currently,  
one in four new physicians in the U.S. is an international medical  
graduate."

In its report on primary-care providers, GAO said the number of  
international medical graduates training in primary care had grown  
from 13,025 in 1995 to 15,565 in 2006.

For specialists, the number of Americans in training went from 45,300  
in 1995 to 47,575 in 2006 and over the same period international  
specialists grew from 11,957 to 12,611, GAO said.

"There are simply not enough primary-care providers now and the  
situation will become far worse in the future unless we do  
something," Sanders said. He urged doubling funds for the National  
Health Service Corps to $250 million next year.

The service corps offers scholarships to students dedicated to  
practicing primary care in communities of greatest need. In return  
for scholarship support, they must agree to practice in communities  
where need is the greatest.

"Part of the solution lies in making medical, dental and nursing  
education affordable for all Americans," Sanders said.





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