Take Back Primary Care

Despite being the largest medical specialty, primary care is in crisis. There is a national shortage of more than 20,000 primary care physicians, and more are leaving the field each year either through retirement or otherwise than the number of graduating residents entering it. Thus, this shortage will grow largely due to relatively low salaries and adverse health system issues that lead to widely documented physician dissatisfaction and burnout. Yet primary care is a critical component of health care, the portal through which most patients enter health systems and receive both primary and specialty care. Because health systems are heavily dependent on their diminishing specialty, primary care physicians have the power and the obligation to their patients to mandate changes in how they are treated and compensated and how they practice medicine. Suggestions on how they can use this power to positively impact their profession and make it more attractive are provided.