There’s a really high rate of burnout among ob-gyns,” she says, and there aren’t many young doctors clamoring to start their careers in areas like hers.
A recent ACOG report concluded that women in Arizona, Washington, Utah, and Idaho face the greatest risk of a severe ob-gyn shortage; Florida, Texas, North Carolina, and Nevada could soon be next, because the female population in those areas is growing without new ob-gyns flooding in.
While Dr. Jones admits that it’s unusual to stop practicing entirely in your late thirties, she understands why young physicians drop the obstetrics part of the job and just stick with gynecology.
To get or maintain access to real-life ob-gyns, rural communities may have to figure out incentives to lure physicians away from major metropolitan areas, such as offering to pay off medical school loans, suggests Dr. Lawrence.