doctor shortage
Not enough physicians
A doctor shortage is a situation where demand for physicians exceeds supply, leaving communities or healthcare systems with inadequate medical coverage.
The term appears in policy debates about healthcare access: Rural areas face a chronic doctor shortage.
Shortages may be general or specific to specialties: The doctor shortage in psychiatry has reached crisis levels.
- physicianLicensed medical doctor
- nurse practitionerAdvanced-practice clinical caregiver
- nursesMedical care professionals
- healthcareOrganized provision of treatment
- ruralOf the countryside
rural areas · understaffed · hospitals · clinics · walk-in clinic · overworked · on call · burnout · waitlist · appointments · emergency · overwhelmed · residency · medical training · medical school · brain drain · recruitment · retention
- shortages
- healthcare problemsmedical errors, misdiagnosis, high costs, long waits, staffing shortages
- health disparitieshealth disparities, healthcare disparities, ethnic disparities, health outcomes, healthcare equity
- health crisespandemic, epidemic, outbreak, health emergency, public health emergency
- health problemsdisease, cancer, diabetes, illness, heart disease
- Canadian Healthcarehealth card, health cards, universal coverage, single-payer, universal healthcare