WASHINGTON, June 22 (UPI) -- The United States reportedly will face a severe physician shortage in 10 years if medical school enrollment doesn't increase by about 30 percent.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal says the gloomy prediction comes from the Association of American Medical Colleges, an organization that accredits U.S. medical schools based in Washington.
The AMC blames an aging population, more uninsured patients and a large percentage of physicians reaching retirement age for the crucial need to train more people for the medical profession.
Association officials say a 30 percent increase in medical school enrollment would produce an additional 5,000 medical students each year, the Review-Journal said. The association says to meet the medical needs of the nation in 2015, enrollment must immediate be increased due to the time needed to train a physician.
"I think, in many respects, Nevada is looking at a much worse situation," Dr. John McDonald, dean of the University of Nevada's School of Medicine, told the Review-Journal. "Nevada has the smallest pipeline from which to draw physicians from than any other state in the Union. It has the smallest number of medical students and ... has fewer residency programs."
