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Texas Senato
The Texas Department of State Health Services recently released startling new data on the future
of the physician workforce. By 2030, there
including psychiatry, family medicine, and obstetrics and gynecology - to meet patient
demand.
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done with the late
Medical schools in the Lone Star State won't be able to produce enough graduates to fill these
shortages. Texas will need physicians educated beyond its borders -
at international medical
schools. Many of these doctors are native Texans who pursued their degrees abroad and want to
return home to practice.
Many parts of Texas are already doctor deserts. Consider the gap in mental health professionals.
live in federally-designated mental health shortage areas, according to
the Kaiser Family Foundation.
do not have a single
psychiatrist, according to data from 2015.
The shortage of primary care physicians is equally concerning. Texas has enough primary care
doctors to meet just half its needs. Dozens of counties have fewer than 10 such physicians. Some
have none at all.
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The shortage could soon surge. Nearly 30 percent of the state's active doctors are close to
retirement age. Meanwhile, Texas's population is growing at among the fastest clips in the
nation.
Consequently, state officials project that Texas will need thousands more doctors by 2030 —
including more than 800 OB/GYNs, 1,000 family medicine physicians, and 1,200 psychiatrists.
These physician gaps threaten Texans' health. According to a review of the scientific literature
conducted by a researcher at the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, “Improved
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