Rural Health Professions Facts - Essay Example

About 20% of the US population—more than 50 million people—live in rural areas, but only 9% of the nation's physicians practice in rural communities”. The relevant findings of the study by Rosenblatt & Hart indicated that factors such as specialty choice, gender, and managed care influence the prevalence of physicians in rural areas. As stipulated, the more specialized the physicians are, the more likely that they will settle in urban areas. Likewise, the increase in the number of women in the medical profession reveals preferences of practicing in urban areas than in rural areas.

Finally, the effect of managed care to physician imbalance and maldistribution is clearly explained by Rosenblatt & Hart (2000, 1), to wit: “managed care is a 2-edged sword, both with regard to geographic maldistribution and rural medical under service. Managed care networks have the potential to provide organizational vehicles for hiring and deploying physicians in areas that could not support independent physicians on their own”. With the disparity, the health care industry must seek ways and means to address this dilemma to enable all Americans to avail of professional health care services on an equal basis.