A workforce analysis informing medical school expansion, admissions, support for primary care, curriculum, and research.

PURPOSE

This case study describes the findings of a physician workforce analysis and how an institution is using these findings to address the decreasing proportion of medical students choosing primary care careers.

METHODS

A University of Washington School of Medicine committee commissioned an analysis of the American Medical Association Physician Masterfile. The analysis examined physician-to-population ratios, rural-urban geographic distribution, physician demographics, and physician graduation from the university or one of its affiliated residency programs for graduates of allopathic medical schools and residencies at the county level in the 5 states in the WWAMI partnership (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho).

RESULTS

The analysis found that in 2005, the 5 WWAMI states ranked at the bottom of US states in the number of publicly supported medical school and residency slots per capita. Although physician-to-population ratios were comparable to those in the rest of the country, the 5 WWAMI states imported most of their physicians, including family physicians, approximately 70% of whom came from other medical schools or residency programs. Family physicians were the only specialty distributed across the population gradient from urban to isolated rural areas. The workforce analysis is informing planning for medical school expansion, admissions, support for primary care, curriculum, and research at an institution with a clear mission that includes training the health workforce for its region.

CONCLUSIONS

The analysis has wide potential applicability, but it has special relevance for primary care and has been particularly useful in making the case for supporting primary care education in the WWAMI region.