July 27, 1959

The President
fhe White House
Washington 25, 0. C-

Dear Mr. President:

The Nation is facing a growing shortage which
will reach 15,000 physicians and 15,000 dentists by
1975. ‘This prospect imperils the maintenance of today's
health standards for our growing and changing popula~
tion, in terms of the level, quality, and distribution
ef the Mation's health and medical care services.

These are not guesses, but firm estimates.
They are based on two factors that can be predicted
with a high degree of accuracy: population increases
and the ratio of physicians and dentists to population~~
ratios which, incidentally, have remained fairly con-
stant during the past twenty-five years. Moreover, the
increasing proportion of older people and ingancts in
Let me cite a few statistics.

eoeee There are 235,000 physicians and 99,000
dentists in practice in the United States today.

eoses Calculated on the basis of population
growth and existing ratios of doctors to popula-
tion, we will need 311,000 physicians and 133,000
dentists by 1975.

eseeetf presently predicted graduation rates con-
tinue, and if death rates follow present patterns,
there will be only 296,000 physicians and 116,000
Gentists in 1975.

ooeecQUr present medical schools (85) and dental
schools (47) estimate that even under optimum
conditions, including a reasonable and continuing
expansion of Federal aid through existing programs,
they would not be Mle to increase the size of
today’s graduating classes by an amount which
could possibly bridge this gap.

oseeeThus, at best, unless something is done
about it now, the Nation faces a serious shortage
both of physicians and dentists. Regardless of
what is done, it takes 6 to 10 years to extablish
new schools and graduate a first class. This
means that we must take immediate action to safe~
guard a situation a decade from now.

This issue has been placed before the Congress and
the Administration time and time again, but resultant legis-
lative proposals, originating both in the Executive Branch
and in the Congress, have sot been enacted. it must be
assumed that the problem has not been adequately presented
to the Congress and that the Administration has not had
the conviction to press the issue as forcefully as the situa~-
tion demands. ‘The most recent Administration bill in this
field, for example, introduced during the 65th Congress
last year, has not been re-introduced this year.
0

dohn &. Fogarty, 4. C.