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Doctors are more likely to stay in underserved communities when they feel socially accepted and their family's needs are met. A new JAMA Network Open study found that community integration and needs fulfillment independently predicted physician retention beyond two years in Health Professional Shortage Areas. The findings highlight a human side of the physician workforce crisis that goes beyond salary and loan repayment.
Keeping doctors in underserved communities isn't just about financial incentives — it's about belonging. A new study published in JAMA Network Open found that physicians working in Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) were significantly more likely to plan on staying beyond two years when they felt socially integrated into their community and when the community met their family's needs — things like good schools, safe neighborhoods, employment for spouses, and social networks.
The study analyzed survey data from 1,074 physicians (351 rural, 723 urban) who received National Health Service Corps loan repayments between 2014 and 2024. Both community needs fulfillment and community integration were independently and comparably associated with anticipated retention in rural and urban settings alike.
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Why it matters: With physician shortages persisting in vulnerable communities, these findings suggest that retention strategies should extend beyond loan forgiveness to actively support physicians' social and family lives — a potentially high-impact, underutilized lever in workforce planning.
