2,700,000 reasons why we do not have enough.

• Position: Primary Care Physicians - Brief article

Choosing primary care over a specialty career costs physicians an estimated $2,700,000 in potential lifetime earnings and wealth, maintains an analysis by Duke University, Durham, N.C. The study looked at average lifetime income and wealth accumulation of specialist physicians, primary care physicians, physician assistants, MBAs, and college graduates.

With 32,000,000 more Americans about to be covered by "Obama-Care," the current shortage of primary care providers probably will become more acute. Fixing the situation could require policy changes to reduce this income gap, say Bryan Vaughn and Steven DeVrieze, recent graduates of the MBA program at Duke's Fuqua School of Business.

According to their findings, a physician who enters medical school at age 23 and practices until age 65 would have a lifetime wealth potential of $5,200,000 as a cardiologist, and $2,500,000 as a family medicine or internal medicine practitioner. Average wealth potential for MBAs is $1,700,000, compared to $850,000 for physician assistants and $340,000 for college graduates.

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