Recruiting for Primary Care

Abstract

It is widely agreed that for optimal delivery of health care, half or more of all doctors should be primary care physicians^1,2. Nevertheless, unmoved by considerations of national need, a high and increasing proportion of graduates of U.S. medical schools are choosing to become specialists. Moreover, surveys indicate that many established primary care practitioners are unhappy with their practices³. This growing discordance between policy and reality has led policy makers, practitioners, and academics to suggest a variety of programs to increase the number of generalists. These proposals can be grouped into two categories. One group emphasizes changes . . .