‘Locked out of the profession’: Residency policies creating physician shortages, new report finds

Becker's Healthcare September 27, 2021
Gabrielle Masson

Bottlenecks in the physician training and education pipeline are limiting entry for residency and playing a vital role in U.S. physician shortages and care access issues, according to a Sept. 20 report from nonpartisan think tank Niskanen Center.

The U.S. has significantly fewer physicians per capita than other high-income countries, with 3.1 primary care physicians per 10,000 people, compared with 7.6 PCPs per 10,000 people in the U.K. and 13 in Canada, according to the analysis.

U.S. physician shortages persist not because of lower interest or less capable citizens, according to the report, but instead “because of the remarkable degree to which its physician pipeline filters out entrants into the profession.” The shortages then foster a reliance on...

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