Over 50% of docs in Canada are primary care. In the USA, it's around 30%. The problem is too many specialists in the USA doing too many procedures and not enough docs doing basic care. Why? Thank Medicare, which continues to reimburse very highly specialists, especially when doing procedures, and not so much pediatricians, family practice, etc. Who can blame medical students for being specialists when the average USA debt after med school is $300k. Oh, but the USA welcomes foreign trained docs, who were trained at no expense to them because other countries' governments pay for their medical training (mostly). This "shortage" problem can be easily fixed: Cut reimbursements for procedures INCLUDING those done in hospitals (seen the incomes of hospital CEO's lately?), raise those for primary care visits. Is that what Obama and buddies are doing? Hell, no. MACRA, the biggest looming disaster for the poor, old and sick is coming. Here, low paid primary care docs (what few there are) will no longer be paid per visit but by how well their patients do. What will happen? In order to be paid, docs will only see (you can see this, right?) the healthy, the young, and the rich (who can pay for their medications) . . . and the mentally competent, because crazy/stupid people won't follow instructions and will just have bad outcomes (means no money). Yup, Medicare and Obamarama have created the biggest healthcare tar pit in the world, and your all heading toward it full speed.