In an analysis of the Council on Graduate Medical Education's (COGME) recent physician workforce report, Phillips and
colleagues call into question COGME's recommendation to expand the physician workforce.
The researchers assert that COGME fails to account for exploding nurse practitioner and physician's assistant workforces
combined with a physician workforce that is growing much faster than the general U.S. population.
Moreover, they contend that the report fails to accommodate what physicians will actually do in a redesigned healthcare
system. They conclude that producing a physician surplus could be far worse than wasted because the investment required and
resulting rise in healthcare costs may harm, not help, the health of the people in the United States. Instead, these
resources could be applied in ways that improve health.
COGME's 16th Report to Congress: Too Many Physicians Could Be Worse Than Wasted
By Robert L. Phillips, Jr., M.D., M.S.P.H., et al
Annals of Family Medicine is a peer-reviewed research journal that provides a cross-disciplinary forum for new,
evidence-based information affecting the primary care discipline. Launched in May 2003, the journal is sponsored by six
family medical organizations, including the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Board of Family Medicine, the
Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, the Association of Departments of Family Medicine, the Association of Family Medicine
Residency Directors and the North American Primary Care Research Group. Annals is published six times each year and contains
original research from the clinical, biomedical, social and health services areas, as well as contributions on methodology
and theory, selected reviews, essays and editorials. A board of directors with representatives from each of the sponsoring
organizations oversees Annals. Complete editorial content and interactive discussion groups for each published article can be
accessed free of charge on the journal's Web site, annfammed.
Contact: Angela Lower
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American Academy of Family Physicians
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