LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Waiting three to four months to see your primary care doctor may seem like a nightmare.
But for some Arkansans and patients nationwide, it's a reality due to a national physician shortage.
Dr. Wayne Bryant is a family medicine physician and residency program associate director at Little Rock Family Medicine. He sees nearly a thousand new patients a year.
"Not being able to take care of my patients and see them when needed," Bryant said. "That is a little heartbreaking."
Currently, Bryant said he is booked about three to four months out, trying to fit in patients whenever he can.
"My patient, he had just been released from the hospital; he had a stroke," Bryant said. "He messaged, and I said, 'We'll get him in at any time,' but before he could come and see me, it took a couple of days, and he ended up going back to the hospital... he had another stroke."
That patient died in the hospital.
"In my mind, I'm like, 'Well, could I have caught something beforehand? If he was able to get in with me? The next day after he got to the hospital?'" Bryant said.
Compared to the rest of the country, UAMS said Arkansas has some of the fewest physicians per 100,000 people.
UAMS Vice Chancellor Richard Turnage said some factors causing this are burnout after the pandemic and an aging workforce.
"A smaller number of physicians practicing than are needed by the population," Turnage said. "But also a mal-distribution between the where the physicians are practicing and where the patient needs are."
Turnage also explained that the issue is magnified in rural areas.
"There's more to going to the doctor than just having the appointment," Turnage said. "You have to have the travel to the to the appointment. Do you have access to that? Do you have to leave your job for that day?"
To fix the problem, state legislators and hospitals like UAMS are creating more opportunities for residents to study and hopefully stay here.
According to Turnage, it's already helping.
"Arkansas and UAMS are our leaders in the nation as far as keeping our students practicing in the state," Turnage said.
So, while the shortage continues, these programs still bring in doctors like Bryant, who cares for hundreds of Arkansans and now works to teach others.
"I know the population, I know the community," Bryant said. "I don't plan on leaving anytime soon."
Bryant said new residency programs will be rolling out in more rural areas, aiming to make medical care more accessible.