Underrepresented/Underserved

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Alex1803

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I live in a small town with three primary care physicians and no specialists/no hospitals. There are two hospitals (one north and one south) within 20 minutes of my town. Is my area underserved because of not having specialists in the actual town? Obviously there are a number of them 20 minutes outside of town but technically where I live there aren't any. Any info. about this and what it means to be underrepresented/underserved would be appreciated.

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If you are filling out the "disadvantaged" section of the AMCAS, you should judge for yourself. That's what the instructions ask that you do.

Does it take a long time to get an appointment with a local doc? Do people forego medical care because they can't get to the doctors who practice farther way? You be the judge. The question is about your community, not your county.

BTW, AMCAS will look at your county and determine if it is underserved or rural according to some federal guidelines. You'd be surprised -- most big cities are considered underserved, even if they seem to have a medical school on every corner. Underserved is about primary care providers, btw, not specialists. If you need routine preventive care or help for garden variety problems, you aren't helped if there are 100 docs in your community but they are sub-specialists who aren't going to be bothered with your strep throat.
 
Alex1803 said:
I live in a small town with three primary care physicians and no specialists/no hospitals. There are two hospitals (one north and one south) within 20 minutes of my town. Is my area underserved because of not having specialists in the actual town? Obviously there are a number of them 20 minutes outside of town but technically where I live there aren't any. Any info. about this and what it means to be underrepresented/underserved would be appreciated.

Hello Alex. Check your neighborhood's status using the hrsa classifications on this website. There is a page on the site where you can put in the zip code and get info about whether or not the area is underserved. The rating is from 0-100 with points below 62 classified as medically underserved. So check it out rather than just guessing.

http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/shortage/muaguide.htm

~GraC
 
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