By Daja Henry | Downtown Devil
The University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix campus announced last week that it will expand its class size from 80 to 100 in 2020 to combat the state’s intensifying physician shortage.
The expansion is just the next step a plan that was initiated at the university’s inception, said Glen Fogerty, the school’s dean of admissions and recruitment. The school opened in 2007 with 24 students, but the campus was built to serve 120 students.
The move is designed to address a growing need for physicians that is plaguing the country. As the U.S. population ages, so will its doctors. A study by the Association of American Medical Colleges projects that one-third of all active physicians will be older than 65 in the next decade.
However, many students are turning away from primary care and toward specializations, which often pay more. Medscape’s 2019 Young Physician Compensation Report showed that physicians with specialties make an average of $100,000 more per year than primary care physicians.
