Get Thee to Medical School!

First came the report from the Institute of Medicine that the U.S. is facing a massive healthcare shortage as the nation's 78 million baby boomers enter their golden years. Projections estimate a shortfall of anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 doctors relative to demand by 2020, and within three years our senior citizens will be dealing with a healthcare workforce that's "too small and woefully unprepared." Now, the Journal of the American Medical Association reports in the April issue of Archives of Surgery that the number of general surgeons per 100,000 Americans has fallen more than 25 percent in the past 25 years. The study, led by Dr. Dana Christian Lynge at the University of Washington, Seattle, analyzed the number of general surgeons per 100,000 people using the American Medical Association’s Physician Masterfiles from 1981, 1991, 2001 and 2005, taking into account the age, sex and location of each surgeon. Meanwhile, ...