More Doctors are Needed in America's Inner Cities

Study of urban physician supply trends

Investigators from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Medical School examined changes in the availability of physicians in U.S. urban areas from 1980 to 1997.

Key Findings

Key findings reported to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the Council on Graduate Medical Education include the following:

  • The number of office-based primary care physicians grew from 1980 to 1997, and availability was higher in non-poverty areas.
  • The number of specialists and hospital-based physicians grew much faster in poverty areas during this period.
  • Physician availability is most strongly associated with the concentration of hospitals in an area.
  • No single policy aimed at altering the medical workforce showed a dramatic impact on physician availability.
  • In 1997, the availability of office-based primary care physicians in both high- and low-poverty areas was below levels considered adequate by a panel of 11 medical workforce experts polled by the principal investigator.

Funding

RWJF provided $197,040 in funding from June 1997 to April 1999 to support the project.

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