The future of the rural family physician workforce

Rural communities across the United States are facing a sustained decline in access to primary care. Since 2017, the number of family physicians practicing in rural areas has dropped by more than 10%, according to a report published late last year. In many regions, that reduction has implications for care capacity, hospital stability and long-term workforce planning.

In the second part of the conversations, host J. Carlisle Larsen speaks with Colleen Fogarty, M.D. of the University of Rochester about the structural factors shaping the rural physician workforce and what it will take to strengthen it, examining rural residency programs, medical training pipelines, immigration pathways and loan repayment incentives as policy levers aimed at stabilizing rural access to care.

You can listen to the first half of the conversation here.