Doctor shortages and UofA College of Medicine

Arizona is one of the fastest-growing states in the U.S., with 7.5 million residents as of 2025.

Our 1.3% annual population growth is above the national average and is expected to continue to increase.

Arizona is already short hundreds of doctors. By 2030, Arizona will need an additional 2,000 primary care physicians to meet the health care needs of its residents.

Fredric E. Wondisford, MD, MS, MBA, and Dean at University of Arizona College of Medicine, Phoenix, joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss the shortage.

Currently, Arizona ranks 44th among the 50 states in primary care physicians per capita. More than 1 in 4 adults in Arizona do not have a personal doctor, and a survey showed that 28% of Arizona’s adults had not seen a doctor for a routine checkup in the past year. These issues are exacerbated in rural and underserved areas of the state.

According to Dr. Wondisford, UofA is undertaking some initiatives to combat this shortage in a partnership with Banner Health, announcing an expansion of their Graduate Medical Education programs with 229 additional residency and fellowship positions in 2023. Three programs were expanded in 2024 and 16 new programs will be built by 2027, growing the number of specialty-trained physicians through the partnership by more than 60%.

Beginning fall of 2025, 12 students annually at the College of Medicine in Tucson and Phoenix will graduate a year early, stepping into residency training and practice faster, with less debt and explicitly trained for primary care.

“The evolution of health care and our state, I think it’s been helpful that there’s a medical school in Phoenix associated with Banner,” Dr. Wondisford said. “I think there’s a virtuous cycle, so if we make students, we graduate students, they need training, Banner needs practicing physicians. Banner then agrees to fund additional training positions to have those physicians.”