Physicians in Nonmetro Areas During the Seventies

The gap between number of physicians in nonmetro and metro areas widened during the seventies, with nonmetro areas lagging by almost 100 physicians per 100,000 population. Nonmetro areas had more general practitioners and fewer specialists per 100,000 population than did metro areas. While the number of physicians in all nonmetro areas rose, the rate of increase was slower than in metro areas, except in urbanized nonmetro areas not adjacent to a standard metropolitan statistical area (SMSA). The number of office-based general practitioners per 100,000 population fell while the number of office-based specialists rose in all regions and for all residential categories.