(AP) -- A new report suggests that South Carolina could face a critical shortage of doctors during the next decade as physicians and the population ages.
A report by the Office for Healthcare Workforce Analysis and Planning provides a detailed description of the physicians working in the state. The office is located at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.
While the number of doctors in the state has been growing faster than the population, the number of doctors per 10,000 people remains lower than in most states.
The report found that a barrier to training new physicians may be fewer graduate-level opportunities. Such positions are generally funded with federal dollars and there may not be as many positions available as lawmakers in Washington look for ways to cut federal spending.
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