Author: Suhana Mishra
Living in the often-overlooked San Joaquin Valley, I personally feel the impact of the primary care physician shortage. My family has difficulty getting basic medical care for common illnesses like the flu. Not only is it difficult to get an appointment with a local doctor, it often means seeking urgent care or driving a long distance for simple treatments. Non-urgent problems that could be addressed through primary care are overwhelming urgent care centers, which often have long wait times and poor conditions. These first-hand experiences reveal the importance of primary care services to our communities. They also fuel my passion for change. Leading HOSA’s community service campaign on California’s physician shortage gave me a clearer understanding of the systemic nature of the problem and strengthened my commitment to finding long-term solutions.
Despite being a center of innovation, California faces a severe and growing deficit in primary care services. This is most evident in areas like the San Joaquin Valley. Long travel, physician burnout, and systemic neglect contribute to community-wide declines in health outcomes. A University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) study reports that only two regions in California meet the federally recommended threshold of 60-80 primary care physicians per 100,000 residents. Predictably, the San Joaquin Valley is well below that benchmark.
While programs such as the Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program attempt to incentivize physicians to practice in underserved areas, their impact has been limited. According to CapRadio, one-third of doctors in California are over 55 and close to retirement. CalMatters estimates that by 2030, the state will be short of more than 10,000 primary care physicians. This has dire consequences not only for logistics and care delivery, but also for the long-term health outcomes of Californians.
When patients face barriers to continued care, chronic conditions go unmanaged.
Skip preventive screenings. Communities have lost trust in the systems designed to stay healthy. A 2022 study from Patient Engagement HIT found that individuals in areas with the highest concentration of primary care providers had a 37% higher risk of developing hypertension than those in well-served communities. These statistics are more than just numbers—they represent real life.
This gap has widened further as the number of medical students seeking primary care has declined. Only 36% of graduates enter the field, and those who do tend to prefer internships in urban areas with better infrastructure and professional networks. The result? Existing physicians in underserved areas are exhausted by overwhelming demand. A survey by the California Healthcare Foundation showed that 68% of physicians said they would choose a different specialty if they could start over, largely because of stress and burnout. Additionally, the lack of medical schools near many rural communities exacerbates geographic imbalances in where new physicians choose to train and ultimately work. In the Coachella Valley, for example, the nearest medical school is 75 miles away, according to the UCSF Health Power Center.
We can’t solve the crisis with incentives alone – we have to start earlier. My experience at HOSA shows that few students are aware that this shortage exists. Educational programs like Project Lead The Way (PLTW) and HOSA have the potential to close this gap by exposing students to health care earlier and empowering them to choose primary care. By building awareness and engagement at the high school and community college levels, we can begin to change the narrative. Future doctors need to understand that their chosen profession has wider social implications. When students see the direct connection between health care services and the well-being of their community, especially in a district like ours, they are more likely to feel responsible for making a difference.
Medical schools must also be part of the solution. More programs should prioritize primary care training, with a particular emphasis on rural and underserved placements. Scholarship, mentorship, and longitudinal clinical experience in these areas can help create a more equitable distribution of the physician workforce. Addressing this issue will require not only policy changes but also a cultural shift in how we value and promote the primary care profession.
Behind every statistic about physician shortages are people who drive miles to get essential appointments or spend hours waiting for urgent care that should be handled locally. These are not just holes in the system, they are moments when people lose trust in health care. Solutions must go beyond shuffling the cards; they must restore that trust. This means focusing on primary care is not an afterthought but the heartbeat of public health. That means elevating the voices of community health workers, who already shoulder so much of the burden, and it means giving students hands-on experience in underserved areas so they feel motivated to return. If we can combine policy with lived experience — scholarship and training with grassroots engagement — then we can rebuild a system that feels human again. Equity doesn’t just come from the datasheet; It comes from ensuring that no community has to wonder whether care is truly within reach.
Suhana Mishra is a high school researcher and public health advocate from California's Central Valley.
