Health care jobs can be tough to find but primary care docs are in short supply

Jan 24 2011

News outlets report on the health care workforce, including how the primary care physician supply is getting tighter as baby boomers' health needs increase.

KQED: Boomers Face Doctor Shortage
[J]ust when boomers' health needs increase, their ability to find a doctor will start getting a lot harder. For the last decade, medical schools haven't been producing enough primary care doctors, let alone those who specialize in geriatrics. Low Medicare reimbursement rates aren't helping the problem (Dembosky, 1/21).

MarketWatch: Even Health-Care Jobs Can Be Tough To Find
The diverse health-care sector has held up well through the recession, despite the decline in demand for services as more people lost their incomes and health insurance when they lost their jobs. Health care employs nearly 14 million Americans, and the sector added an average 21,000 jobs every month through November last year, slightly higher than the average 18,000 jobs added monthly in 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Many health care occupations are projected to grow much faster than average in the next decade as the population ages (Gerencher, 1/24).