Med School

¶ … future of health care delivery in the country in which I intend to practice, America, is a shortage of physicians. The Association of American Medical Colleges (2013) projected that there will be a demand for approximately 100,000 doctors at the end of the decade, and for nearly 131,000 doctors by 2025 (AAMC). There are several factors that have impacted this shortage and which are placing increased demands on what doctors are available. Addressing this shortage is essential for American health care to survive in the coming decades.

Recent legislation pertaining to health care has exacerbated the demand for physicians and highlighted the fact that there may not be enough of them to attend to the country's impending health care needs. The Affordable Care Act has made it mandatory for virtually everyone in the country to obtain healthcare. Moreover, individuals who were previously denied health care because of pre-existing conditions or who were considered too great a risk to insure now have access to care.

The result is that more people are seeking the services of doctors and health care professionals than they have ever before, which requires more professionals to treat them. There simply are not enough doctors to do so at this point. The shortage is also greatly attributed to an increasingly aging population. Advancements in science and technology have made it so that people are able to receive better care and live longer than was possible in other generations.

Consequently, the considerable Baby Boomer generation is growing older and will require greater amounts of treatment that are commensurate to an aging population. These individuals will routinely require health care services that involve doctors, a fact which is complicated by the reality that "physician shortages will impact primary care more than other specialties" (Gordon, 2014). Although there are the same numbers of people requiring care, the aging Baby Boomer population contributes to the doctor shortage because they will need more of it.

The additional care that this generation necessitates is another burden on doctors in the U.S. The shortage is also attributed to the rising demand for physicians and a reduction in the benefits for this profession. While various aspects of the Affordable Care Act and the Baby Boomers' aging increase the number of patients and treatment frequency, there are a number of disincentives that are helping to.