The United States is grappling with a significant physician shortage in 2025, a challenge that will profoundly shape the experiences of today’s premeds, medical students, and early-career doctors. Recent data paint a sobering picture: the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) projects a shortfall of up to 86,000 physicians by 2036 under current trends aamc.org. This gap is especially acute in primary care, where demand for services far outstrips supply.

TL;DR: Primary care in America is in crisis. Medical students are increasingly skipping family medicine, internal medicine, and pediatrics in favor of specialties; as a result, only about one-third of new primary care residency slots are filled by U.S. MD graduates. Meanwhile, roughly 75 million Americans (22% of the population) live in primary care shortage areas, and by 2037 the U.S. is projected to be short ~87,000 primary care physicians. Contributing factors include mass

Why are so many doctors burned out and disenfranchised? The answers lie in a mix of workplace pressures and personal factors. Broadly, physicians cite excessive stress and workload (burnout), crushing administrative/EHR burdens, financial pressures, dwindling professional autonomy, and poor work-life balance. Below we break down each factor, citing surveys and expert commentary, before exploring counterpoints, pros/cons, and an overall “justification score” for leaving medici

H.R. 6951 mixes new student aid (more Pell) with stricter borrowing limits and institutional accountability​. The House Education & Workforce Committee reported the bill in November 2024 (H.Rept. 118-739)​, but it has not passed the House as of April 2025. Its fate will depend on legislative priorities, with Republicans championing it as a cost-cutting measure and Democrats criticizing cuts to aid.