FREE NEJM E-TOC    HOME   |   SUBSCRIBE   |   CURRENT ISSUE   |   PAST ISSUES   |   COLLECTIONS   |   Search Term  Advanced Search

Sign in | Get NEJM's E-Mail Table of Contents — Free | Subscribe

HEALTH CARE 2009 Volume 360:2693-2696 June 25, 2009 Number 26 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

	Full Text PDF PDA Full Text Perspective by Steinbrook, R. Letters Add to Personal Archive Add to Citation Manager Notify a Friend E-mail When Cited E-mail When Letters Appear PubMed Citation

Primary care in the United States needs a lifeline. In 2009, for the 12th straight year, the number of graduating U.S. medical students choosing primary care residencies reached dismally low levels.¹ Overloaded primary care practices, whose doctors are aptly compared to hamsters on a treadmill, struggle to provide prompt access and high-quality care. Three major factors contribute to this crisis. First, primary care physicians earn far lower incomes than procedural specialists, reducing career attractiveness for medical students with high debt burdens. Second, the work-related stresses felt by primary care physicians tags primary care as the career with more work at . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Source Information

Dr. Bodenheimer is a professor at the Center for Excellence in Primary Care in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, and Dr. Grumbach a professor and chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, San Francisco. Dr. Berenson is an institute fellow at the Urban Institute, Washington, DC.

Related Letters:

Primary Care — Lifelines and Shortages
Rickert J., LeBlanc T. W., Edelman N. H., Bodenheimer T., Grumbach K., Berenson R. A.
Extract | Full Text | PDF  
N Engl J Med 2009; 361:1413-1415, Oct 1, 2009. Correspondence

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Sterling, M. L. (2009). Eliminating a Viable Primary Care Workforce -- A Primary Care Perspective. NEJM 0: NEJMopv0909479v1-1 [Full Text]  
• Chokshi, D. A. (2009). Ensuring Progress in Primary Care -- What Can Health Care Reform Realistically Accomplish?. NEJM 361: e43-e43 [Full Text]  
• Rickert, J., LeBlanc, T. W., Edelman, N. H., Bodenheimer, T., Grumbach, K., Berenson, R. A. (2009). Primary Care -- Lifelines and Shortages. NEJM 361: 1413-1415 [Full Text]  
• Kerr, D. J., Scott, M. (2009). British Lessons on Health Care Reform. NEJM 361: e21-e21 [Full Text]  
• Dietrich, A. J. (2009). Progress on Primary Care Management of Depression. ANN INTERN MED 151: 425-426 [Full Text]  
• Fournier, A. M. (2009). Primary Care Remuneration -- A Simple Fix. NEJM 361: e102-e102 [Full Text]