Family Physician Workforce Trends: The Toll on Rural Communities

Family physicians are key members of the rural health care workforce, which is inadequate for current needs. From the American Medical Association Physician Masterfile, we identified actively practicing US family physicians during 2017-2023 and their region of practice. We found a year-over-year decrease in family physicians practicing in rural areas, with a net loss of 11% nationwide over the 7 years studied. We observed the greatest percentage loss of rural family physicians in the Northeast and the least percentage loss in the West. Ensuring an adequate rural family physician workforce likely requires a tailored regional approach such as medical school pathway programs from rural communities.