BILLINGS - Last year, the Association of American Medical Colleges reported that by 2036 the nation could be short of 86,000 physicians.
Now, a year later, Montana healthcare professionals say the effects of that national shortage can be seen throughout the state.
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According to the dean of Rocky Vista University and osteopathic physician, Dr. John Moore, there are currently nine counties in the state that do not have a family care physician.
Moore said the reasoning behind this is multifactoral, but can include the fact that the medical workforce in Montana has a large number of older individuals who will likely retire soon.
From the same study by the Association of American Medical Colleges, 20% of the clinical physician workforce nationwide is 65 years or older.
Moore also said that it's difficult to get medical residents to the state in the first place.
"Rural states that don't have large concentrations of populations, big cities, all have challenges in establishing residency programs," he said.
Moore said the scarcity of medical resources in the state is one of the reasons Rocky Vista University added a campus in Billings. He said it will help to recruit more Montana residents to their medical program and keep students in Montana post-graduation when combating the shortage.
"We do know that students that are from a particular area, that go to training, especially if they can train within that area, have a much higher rate of staying in that area," Moore said.
According to Moore, medical school programs can assist in residency programs, but cannot ultimately decide where a student is placed.
A local organization working to dismantle this system is the Montana Family Medicine Residency with RiverStone Health.
Since 1998, 38 of the graduates from the program practice in the Billings area.
"We're here to address the primary care workforce, and taking care of the bread and butter outpatient issues that most of our patients see their providers for," said the program's associate director, James Denisar-Green.
Denisar-Green said Friday that there are strategies residency programs can take to prevent the shortage both nationally and locally.
"Younger generations are looking for a better work-life balance, in terms of what it looks like to be a doctor," he said.
A work-life balance could also be a part of the shortage. According to the American Medical Association, in 2023, about 48% of physicians reported burnout, although the numbers have decline since 2022.
Both Moore and Denisar-Green say the doctor shortage is not a new issue, so tackling the shortage will take some time.
Until then, local organizations, such as Rocky Vista University and RiverStone Health, are appealing to younger generations entering the medical field.
"We are really trying to train Montana's next generation of physicians," Moore said.
"We (as an industry) need to continue to grow with the expectations of, 'we want people to be in this their entire life,' and to give some flexibility, in terms of people's where we can, and not be quite so rigid," Denisar-Green said.
