Physician Workforce Planning

At the urging of the IMG Section, the AMA has begun to re-examine its policies and assumption about the future of the physician workforce. Currently, these policies are based on the premise that the United States has a physician surplus. That prediction is now widely challenged, as many areas continue to be medically underserved.

At the June 2005 Annual Meeting, two new resolutions were adopted to address the physician workforce shortage:

H-200.953 The Physician Workforce: Recommendations for Policy Implementation
H-200.991 The Physician Workforce: Recommendations for Policy Implementation

This resulted from the June 2003 Annual Meeting, where the AMA Council on Medical Education held an open forum to hear physician's opinions on physician workforce planning. Although the council has not yet issued its recommendations on new workforce policies, several conclusions were made.

• Making accurate predictions of the physician workforce that will be needed in the future in nearly impossible.
• Many AMA policies are based on predictions that are now considered inaccurate.
• AMA policy on workforce is sometimes inconsistent.
  

Read More in the Fall 2003 AMA Voice (PDF, 144KB) for the International Medical Graduates Section.

Additional AMA Policies Related to Physician Workforce Planning

H-200.990 Physician Workforce and the Future of Emergency Medicine and Trauma Care

H-200.955 Revisions to AMA Policty on the Physician Workforce

H-200.968 Physician Workforce Planning Strategies.

H-200.971 Guidelines for Physician Workforce Planning.

H-200.987 Supply and Distribution of Health Professionals.

H-200.994 Health Workforce.

H-305.968 Medicare Direct and Indirect Medical Education Costs.

AMA Reports and/or Documents Related to Physician Workforce Planning

Physician Workforce Shortage: Yes, no, or maybe? - response to GME E-letter

H-200.990 Final Report of the AMA Task Force on Physician Manpower.