title: Primary care: current problems and proposed solutions.
abstract: In 2005, approximately 400,000 people provided primary medical care in the United States. About 300,000 were physicians, and another 100,000 were nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Yet primary care faces a growing crisis, in part because increasing numbers of U.S. medical graduates are avoiding careers in adult primary care. Sixty-five million Americans live in what are officially deemed primary care shortage areas, and adults throughout the United States face difficulty obtaining prompt access to primary care. A variety of strategies are being tried to improve primary care access, even without a large increase in the primary care workforce.
authors.affiliation: Center for Excellence in Primary Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA. tbodenheimer@fcm.ucsf.edu
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bodenheimer
authors.forename: Hoangmai H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Pham
mesh_terms: D002321:Career Choice; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D035082:Federal Government; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000266:history; D011340:Problem Solving; D014481:United States; D000078329:Workforce