News: Number of rural family physicians continues to decrease at ‘alarming’ rate, report says

The number of family physicians practicing in rural areas of the United States decreased 11% between 2017 and 2023, according to a new analysis published in the Annals of Family Medicine.

The analysis examined data from the American Medical Association Physician Masterfile to track active practicing family physicians under age 65. According to the study, in 2017, there were 11,847 rural family physicians; however, in 2017, that number dropped to 10,544.

According to the study, there are several potential reasons for this, among them:

• Fewer medical students are choosing family medicine as a specialty
• Rural-origin students remain underrepresented among those specializing in family medicine
• Rural physicians often carry heavy workloads due to the many roles that serve, which contribute to burnout, relocation, or early retirement

“Our findings demonstrate an alarming loss of [family physicians] in U.S. rural areas, with the highest percentage loss in the Northeast and the lowest in the West,” the authors noted. “[T]his represents a potential loss of primary care access for 16,500 to 38,500 persons. The implications of the loss go beyond numerical calculations and represent economic, social, and interpersonal losses for communities so affected.”

Editor’s note: To read the report, click here. To read further coverage from HealthLeaders, click here.