According to a study released this year by the American Association of Medical College, there will be a shortage of 61,700 to 94,700 physicians nationally by the year 2025. This shortage could be even higher if more of the underserved population begins to seek medical care.

Dr. Darrell G. Kirch, president and corporate executive officer of AAMC, said, "When you consider all the people who do not utilize health care - despite their need - because of financial, cultural, social or geographic barriers, the physician shortage is actually much bigger."The data revealed that if the barriers preventing underserved patients from getting medical care were removed, then "the United States would need up to 96,000 doctors today to meet patient needs," the report stated."Because it can take up to 10 years to train a doctor, our nation needs to act now," Kirch said.Joseph Seemiller, a 2009 graduate of Palmerton Area High School and a medical student at Commonwealth Medical College in Scranton, said the Affordable Care Act has made it possible for people who haven't sought medical care to see a doctor now.A shortage of doctors "bothers me immensely because, as a modern civilized society, everybody should have the right to quality, affordable health care," he said.But just as the need grows due to more people seeking health care and an expanding older population, the number of primary care family medicine practitioners is decreasing."Primary care is not compensated as well as many specialties, so many students feel the pressure to specialize under the weight of crushing debt," Seemiller said. "We need to attract more doctors to primary care. We need to increase loan repayment and scholarship programs for people going into primary care."Medical students can easily graduate with a debt of $300,000 to $400,000, said Terry Purcell, vice president of Ambulatory and Support Services at Blue Mountain Health System."Medical school is so expensive that a lot of students are specializing," he said.Purcell said there will be increasing reliance on nurse practitioners and physician assistants to help fill the physician shortage and will have an expanded role in providing health care.Seemiller agrees and said it is important that midlevel medical providers work in conjunction with physicians so they can rely on the physician's training to handle complex cases."Together, they can provide excellent care for an increased number of patients," he said.