Texas is facing a shortage of more than 10,000 doctors by 2032. There are multiple different reasons as to why this is happening, but don’t shock anybody in the medical field; especially since this shortage has been expected since the 1990s.
The scarcity of doctors started to take conspicuous action during 2020, or when COVID-19 was at its peak. The world went into lockdown while millions of people worldwide were seeking out healthcare, due to the rise in this severe, life-threatening disease. This took a toll on healthcare professionals who couldn’t keep up with the demand for vaccines and medicine, ultimately causing many to quit their jobs.
Since then, the medical field has seen a massive decrease in professionals being turned away from jobs. In Texas, for every 10 medical school graduates, there are nine residency positions, according to Dr. Ogan Gurel, physician and faculty expert at the University of Texas.
“It’s not so much the availability of the doctors, which there is a shortage, as we noted, but also the lack of infrastructure and the lack of sophisticated equipment to support practice.” Gurel said.
House Bill 2038 was passed in Texas in September 2025. This bill aims to allow international medical graduates to skip residency programs required in the U.S, making it easier for those not born in the United States to receive the proper education and opportunities to become licensed doctors in the state of Texas.
