Rural US loses 1 in 9 family physicians in 6 years, study finds
The rural family physician workforce shrank 11% from 2017 to 2023, marking an ongoing shortage in primary care access, according to a study published in November in the Annals of Family Medicine.
Lead author Colleen Fogarty, MD, professor and chair of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Rochester (N.Y.), and co-authors Hoon Byun, DrPH, of the Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care in Washington, D.C., and Alison Huffstetler, MD, of Richmond-based Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Family Medicine, used the American Medical Association Physician Masterfile to identify actively practicing U.S. family physicians and their practice locations during the study period.
The authors found an 11% nationwide drop in family physicians in rural areas, with year-over-year declines reported across all regions from 2017 to 2023. The Northeast saw the steepest percentage loss (15.3%), while the West saw the smallest (3.2%).
“The data reflect what we already experience and know about physician shortages, but the year-over-year numbers for rural areas were astonishing to me. The speed at which this has happened is remarkable and terrible,” Dr. Fogarty said in a Nov. 24 news release from the University of Rochester.
She noted that the decline is occurring even as more young adults move to rural areas, and she attributed the trend to factors including physician burnout and overwork.
One positive finding from the study: The percentage of practicing female family physicians in rural areas rose from 35.5% in 2017 to 41.8% in 2023. Still, Dr. Fogarty pointed to ongoing challenges, such as uncertainty around visa requirements for residents and international medical graduates.
“Ensuring an adequate rural family physician workforce likely requires a tailored regional approach, such as medical school pathway programs from rural communities,” the authors wrote.
Read the full study here.
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