Healthcare Provider Supply Issues
During the last 20 years, the supply of physicians in the United States has almost doubled, and at the first glance this fact proves that there are enough physicians in the country. However, this surplus of physicians is only concentrated in urban areas. Outside densely populated areas, in rural populations, there are serious shortages of physicians, and therefore people do not receive appropriate healthcare services. This problem is mainly associated with the graduates’ desire to work in highly populated areas and cities, rather that in the countryside. As new physicians enter the healthcare system, they opt for large cities rather than rural areas, and that is why there is such a huge difference. Generally, there is a surplus of physicians in the United States on average. However the distribution of physicians across the county is far from being even, and some areas are in shortage. Therefore, there is a disagreement as to whether there is a shortage or surplus. 
The influx of International Medical Graduates into the United States healthcare system would only worsen current situation. The U.S. national health policy is so inefficient that nowadays medical schools do not pay that much attention to primary medical care. In addition, medical centers are most of the time designating “primary care” graduates to urban areas, rather than areas with shortage of healthcare providers. This is a well-known fact, and this is a direct disadvantage of the national healthcare policy. Thus, the more graduates the greater the distribution gap, which means more physicians in urban areas and fewer physicians in rural areas.
Ethnic minorities in healthcare system has also become an important issue, because currently there is not much diversity in medical workforce. Until there is enough diversity, minorities will continue to suffer. It is a well-known fact that ethnic minorities in the United States have much higher incidents of diseases as compared to whites. Such groups include African-Americans, native Americans, Asian Americans, and Hispanics. In addition, these minority groups have higher mortality rates and poorer health outcomes. The reasons for such phenomenon are still questionable, however the two main theories are based on that either these ethnic groups simply do not receive high quality medical assistance, or they encounter certain ethnic barriers when seeking medical care. Either way, the medical care minorities receive is poorer than that of whites. That is why the medical system must have more African-Americans and Hispanics. 
Bibliography
1.	Rosenblatt, R. (1991). Surplus or shortage? From PubMed Central at http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/ articlerender.fcgi?artid=1002675
2.	Health disparities. (2005, November 25). Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 23:11, December 11, 2005 from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Health_disparities&oldid=29238703.