As our population grows and ages, the demand for physicians continues to grow faster than the supply, resulting in a potential shortfall of between 54,100 and 139,000 primary care and specialty physicians by 2033. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed significant barriers to care that patients face, and highlighted rising concerns of physician burnout and retirement. Physicians are a critical part of our health care infrastructure, and we must train more physicians to meet the needs of our nation. This physician shortage is especially concerning for GI due to the increase in GI diseases in cancers across various races and age groups.

The Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act (S. 834/H.R. 2256) would gradually increase the number of Medicare-supported GME positions by 2,000 per year for seven years, for a total of 14,000 new slots. A share of these positions would be targeted to hospitals with diverse needs including hospitals in rural areas, hospitals serving patients from health professional shortage areas, hospitals in states with new medical schools or branch campuses, and hospitals already training over their caps.