Milken Institute Study Predicts Loss of Primary Care for a Million People

The shortage of primary care doctors could worsen if funding for the Teaching Health Centers, a program to train medical residents in underserved areas, is eliminated. Loss of funding - which has already been drastically reduced - could disrupt the training of 550 current medical residents and cut off the pipeline of future primary care residents, says a new report conducted by the Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative at Milken Institute School of Public Health (Milken Institute SPH) at the George Washington University.

"An estimated 50 million Americans have trouble accessing timely medical care--even if they have health insurance--because they live in rural, urban or suburban parts of the country without enough primary care doctors," says Leighton Ku, PhD, MPH, lead author of the report and a professor of health policy at Milken Institute SPH. "Without continued support, the Teaching Health Centers program will not be able to train the doctors needed to deliver primary care to millions of needy Americans."

Link to the complete press release: http://bit.ly/1DUEkbT