is it true that there are shortages of GPs? I have seen news stories that while healthcare, or visits to the GP are free, there is such a shortage that its difficult to find a GP to see. One news story said that the GP office holds a raffle in one town. They have been adding ONE new patient per month, by raffle. They spoke of how crowded the practice is since so many MDs want to be specialists.

We have the same issue here in NH. We have so many specialists, but not enough internal medicine, or general practice MDs. For a while when I first moved to this area, it was hard to get an appointment. To see a GP you would have to wait, and then when you got here, it was a long wait in the lounge before you got in. its better now, as they have concentrated on adding more GPs, but its still not what it could be. There is ONE single MD for this entire town of 6k people. Yes, they can go to another town, or to the hospital proper for an MD, but its still too many for one man.