A group of doctors is saying that addressing the primary care physician shortage in Michigan is key to creating a healthier state at a lower cost. Dr. Karen Mitchell is program director for Providence Family Medicine Residency in Southfield and tells us part of the solution should involve increasing STEM programs and opportunities for high school and college students in rural parts of the state.
“The more that students who are coming from those programs are choosing to go into medicine, the more likely they are to go back into some of those communities that need family physicians the most.”
Because of an aging population, retiring physicians and Medicaid and private insurance expansion, Michigan may need 12% more primary care physicians by 2030, according to a report by the Citizens Research Council of Michigan.
