Coming doctor shortage requires we ease new doctor debt
Medical student debt now averages more than $200,000 by the time a budding physician graduates. Credit: iStock
We all know the old proverb: Health is the greatest of blessings.
But our well-being in the years ahead is threatened especially on Long Island by a projected lack of physicians in the near future — a health care dilemma emerging just as the so-called baby boomers, that outsized generation born after World War II, are turning old and in need of much more care.
A decade from now, the United States faces an estimated doctor shortage ranging as high as 124,000 primary care and specialty physicians, according to a 2021 study prepared for the Association of American Medical Colleges. A similar projection is now echoed by Northwell's Institute of Health System Science at the Feinstein Institutes. It warns that the rapidly aging population of America and Long Island “will grow faster than supply” of doctors to treat them.
During the COVID-19 crisis, many Long Islanders found that their longtime family physicians had decided to quit their practices or take early retirement. That trend will likely continue as many more reach retirement age between now and 2034, experts say. Finding a family doctor will become particularly more difficult. Northwell researchers found an increasing number of “hospitalists” — physicians who work mainly in hospitals — compared with a declining number of doctors practicing outpatient or primary care and other forms of general medicine.
Early signs of this national problem are already being seen here by Northwell. As Dr. Lauren Block, one of the Northwell researchers, told Newsday, “We've been noting locally difficulty recruiting physicians and really providers of every profession to join us in primary care.”
Solving this complex problem won’t be easy. One of the biggest obstacles is medical student debt, now averaging more than $200,000 by the time a budding physician graduates. A $200 million donation to the NYU Long Island School of Medicine in Mineola from wealthy investor Ken Langone and his wife Elaine will fund full-tuition scholarships for all students. This gift will make it easier for NYU doctors to focus on their patients rather than worry about burdensome loans.
But the overall solution requires more than a few wealthy benefactors. Government and the medical industry must find ways to ease debt burdens for new doctors, making the profession attractive for smart young students who could direct their careers elsewhere. Primary doctors should be better paid. Reimbursements for tending to the many health care needs of seniors, often through the government’s Medicare system, are relatively modest compared with the high fees earned by physicians in elective practices like cosmetic surgery.
At the same time, it may be necessary to attract more immigrant physicians. Like other aspects of health care, America is aided by many newcomers who seek work in hospitals and nursing homes.
We have received a clear prognosis about our future doctor shortage. Let us now work to find a cure.
MEMBERS OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD are experienced journalists who offer reasoned opinions, based on facts, to encourage informed debate about the issues facing our community.
