It is predicted that by 2020 as the baby boomer generation approaches the age of retirement, there will be a significant shortage of physicians. Currently there are approximately 25,500 total medical residency positions offered( all specialties e.g surgery, family medicine etc combined) each year for over 44000 qualified applicants which include foreign graduates and U.S graduates. Although most states have increased their total medical student enrollment to account for this predicted shortage the number of residency spots has stayed constant. It is important to note that every year over 99 percent of available residency positions are filled and we are still faced with this shortage. Thus the increase in the number of students will not curb the problem, only an increase in residency spots.
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