“The United States faces a shortage of primary care physicians… According to the Institute of Medicine, the United States is not prepared to meet the health care needs of the growing number of older adults.”

—DR. MARK D. SCHWARTZ and co-authors of a new study that compared medical students' attitudes about internal medicine careers in 1990 and 2007. The proportion of students planning to practice internal medicine was similar in 1990 (24%) and 2007 (23%), but the percentage planning primary-care careers fell from 9% to 2%. Relatively lower pay and work-life imbalance in primary care may be the problem. [via Archives of Internal Medicine]