Montana tops list of best states to work as a physician
Factors such as opportunity, competition and the overall medical environment can result in different working conditions.
Photo: Tom Werner/Getty Images
Doctors and physicians have many options for where to work, but not all locales are created equally when it comes to the best places in which to practice. Factors such as opportunity, competition and the overall medical environment can result in different working conditions, and affect overall job satisfaction.
Wallethub took these factors into account when ranking the best states in which to practice medicine. The number one state, when accounting for all of these factors, is Montana, edging out South Dakota and Idaho to snag the top spot.
Rounding out the top 10 were Wisconsin, Minnesota, Louisiana, Utah, Nebraska, Iowa and Indiana.
WHAT'S THE IMPACT?
Doctors and physicians are among the highest paid and most educated professionals in the U.S., with general physicians having a median salary equal to or greater than $208,000 per year. But the average medical-school debt is around $202,000, Wallethub found, which means they don't start out wealthy. Where to practice matters.
Which is bad news for Hawaii, which ranked last among states. Counting backwards, the remaining 10 worst states were Rhode Island, Alaska, New Jersey, Washington D.C., New Mexico, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and Oregon.
States ranked by average annual wage for physicians yields a different list, however. With the numbers adjusted for cost of living, the top five states ranked by annual wage were Missouri, Mississippi, Kentucky, Indiana and Montana. The bottom five were Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Hawaii and Washington D.C.
Yet another list was generated by looking at the projected competition in various markets by 2030. Based on that criteria, the top five states, in order, were Nevada, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alaska and Alabama. The bottom five were New York, Massachusetts, North Dakota, Rhode Island and Washington D.C.
THE LARGER TREND
The problem continues to be that there just aren't enough doctors, especially in certain categories such as primary care. According to FAIR Health, a nonprofit company that provides information on healthcare costs and insurance, the nation has been experiencing a primary care shortage since the early 2000s, with declining access affecting many Americans.
This shortage is pervasive. From 2002 to 2015, the proportion of adult Americans with an identified source of primary care decreased from 77 to 75%, a decline that affected patients in every decade of life except those in their 80s, though the biggest drops were found in patients in their 30s, 40s and 50s, according to a study in JAMA Internal Medicine.
As the shortage continues to worsen, experts predict that rural areas will be more severely affected than suburban or urban areas, while marginalized and low-income populations will also be heavily affected.
Twitter: @JELagasse
Email the writer: Jeff.Lagasse@himssmedia.com
