Incoming president of American Medical Association says AMA cares about getting more doctors in rural areas

With new research showing rural Americans are more likely to die early from the five leading causes of death than their urban counterparts, "the American Medical Association is sounding the alarm," reports Melissa Patrick of Kentucky Health News.

AMA President-elect Bruce Scott (AMA photo)

"Rural health is America's health," Dr. Bruce Scott, the AMA president-elect, told reporters in a May 9 press conference in conjunction with the National Rural Health Association annual conference in New Orleans. "We need policymakers to understand that the American Medical Association is deeply concerned about the ever-widening health disparities between urban and rural communities, disparities that are at the root of why rural Americans suffered disproportionately high rates of heart disease, cancer, stroke, respiratory illness, diabetes, and unintentional injuries." 

Scott, who is board-certified in both otolaryngology and facial plastic surgery, will become AMA president in June. He pointed to several environmental, economic and social factors factors that put people who live in rural communities at a higher risk of death from these often preventable conditions. But the AMA's focus, he said, is on the health-care worker and the physician shortage and how this affects rural people's health. 

He added that these shortages are hitting rural areas the largest and are "creating health-care trends that are simply unacceptable. We need to reverse these trends for all individuals to live a long, healthy and active life." Scott said rural areas have about 30 physician specialists for every 100,000 residents, compared to 236 per 100,000 in urban communities, and he noted that more than 130 rural hospitals closed from 2010 to 2021, with many more on the verge of closing today. 

Also, he said that in 2023, 65% of rural communities had insufficient access to primary-care physicians, including pediatricians. And, he said there are not enough residency spots to train doctors in rural areas. "History has shown us that residents, 80% of the time, tend to wind up practicing within 80 miles of where they've done the residency," Scott said. "So residency location becomes very important. In addition, medical schools are receiving fewer and fewer applicants from individuals from rural areas."