Supply and demand of physicians

According to Snyderman et al., (2002) it could be challenging to predict the supply of physician workforce. Research conducted in 1980 by Graduate Medical Education National Advisory Committee(GMENAC) indicated that there would be an oversupply of physicians by 2000. Although the research was criticized and the mathematical procedures questioned, the Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO) confirmed the findings (Snyderman et al., 2002). On the other hand, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) advocated that they would be a decrease in the supply of physicians. However, by 2000, there was an increased shortage of physicians, and the research predictions by HMO and GMENAC were proven wrong (Snyderman et al., 2002). According to Cooper, having an oversupply of physicians could lead to problems in the healthcare sector. Still, the shortage of physicians is expected to continue for several decades, which could seriously threaten the healthcare sector. A shortage of physicians could lead to contracting physician services to non-physicians to cater to the rising demand and low supply (Snyderman et al., 2002). However, physician shortage results from increased demand for medical services than the supply of healthcare professionals.