Infographic: Is there a doctor in your hood?
By Nicole Heißmann
Approx. Reading Time: 1 Min
Region-specific medical workforce: Quantifying the number of active practitioners in your locality. - Doctor Supply within Regions: Quantifying Your Area's Medical Professionals
Star Doctor Shortage Doctor's Office
Running low on docs? Let's take a closer look at the world's doctor shortage crisis—and where the pinch is felt the most.
Global Woes
The World Health Organization predicts a whopping 11 million health workers shortage by 2030, affecting mostly low-income and lower-middle countries.
Stateside Struggles
- Surgeons in Short Supply: Projections predict a shortage of 10,100 to 19,900 surgical specialists by 2036.
- Urban vs. Rural Gap: U.S. rural areas struggle to recruit healthcare professionals, with a measly 12.8 doctors per 10,000 population on average compared to urban cities' 34.7 per 10,000.
- Rural Stress: Healthcare providers in rural areas face higher stress levels due to staffing shortages and limited access to specialists.
- Iowa's Headache: The Hawkeye State grapples with a severe doctor shortage, worsened by the pandemic, ranking 44th in patient-to-physician ratios—a healthcare crisis in the making.
Damning Culprits
- Pandemic Exodus: The pandemic has fueled early retirements and workforce exits, exacerbating the shortage.
- Misaligned Workforce: Uneven distribution of healthcare professionals across regions and bureaucratic pressures aggravate the shortage.
- Stress and Burnout: High-stress levels, burnout, and cost-cutting pressures take a toll on healthcare providers' ability to deliver quality care.
The Repercussions
- Graying Populace: An aging population increases demand on already strained healthcare systems, contributing to the doctor shortage.
- Rural Woes: Limited healthcare resources and providers primarily impact rural communities.
- Medical services and medical practice in rural regions are significantly affected by the ongoing doctor shortage crisis, as highlighted in the article by Nicole Heißmann.
- Doctors, particularly surgeons, are in short supply in the United States, with projections indicating a deficit of up to 19,900 surgical specialists by 2036.
- The distribution of doctors across regions in the U.S. is uneven, with rural areas experiencing a particularly pronounced shortage, leading to higher stress levels and limited access to specialists for healthcare providers in these areas.
- The infographic, "Is there a doctor in your hood?", provides an overview of the doctor shortage crisis, its causes, and its repercussions on health-and-wellness, science, and medical-conditions, especially in rural communities.
