The Medical Education Commission report 2004: the competition for physician recruitment is increasing.

The Louisiana annual match entry into graduate medical education (GME), the renewal of the practicing physician workforce, is consistent year to year and essentially parallel to the United States as a whole. The State of Louisiana Medical Education Commission offers reports compiling yearly and trend data and analysis which are published in the Journal of the Louisiana State Medical Society. The 2004 result of the match follows the trend of successful completion over the last 6 years. Louisiana is similar in many comparable categories to the United States; current trends continue to show a physician steady supply now stabilized and leveling and a growing shortage as demand increases. The GME system, and medical practice to follow, will be under an increasingly competitive environment. Physician recruitment at all levels will need to be augmented to meet national competition.