Georgia's medical workforce pipeline is sending most of the state's medical-school graduates elsewhere for residency, a pattern that can affect where physicians eventually practice. For patients in rural areas, the consequences can include longer travel for specialized care. Sherran Mumphrey, an Atlanta resident, drives about 135 miles to Cordele to accompany her 81-year-old mother to cancer appointments; her mother's longtime cancer team is in Albany, roughly 40 to 45 miles from home.
Mumphrey's family tried to establish care closer to home, but she told CBS Atlanta that delays in getting a response when her mother was sick made the effort difficult. Her experience is one example of how shortages involving physicians, nurses, behavioral health professionals, EMS personnel and other workers can limit access, particularly in rural communities.
A Statewide Pipeline Problem
The 2026 Georgia Medical School Graduate Survey, conducted by the Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce, found that 709 graduates matched into residency programs. Of those, 247, or 34.8%, matched within Georgia, while 462, or 65.2%, matched outside the state, according to figures shared by the Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce.
Among graduates who matched outside Georgia, 25.5% said they had wanted to stay but did not match with an in-state residency program. Others cited out-of-state programs, family considerations, higher resident salaries and specialty availability, according to the same survey summary. Internal Medicine, Family Medicine and Surgery were the top three specialty choices, with Internal Medicine drawing the most matches.
What the evidence shows about shortages and rural training
According to the Health Resources and Services Administration's Third Quarter Fiscal Year 2026 summary, primary-care geographic shortage designations generally require a population-to-provider ratio of at least 3,500 to 1, or 3,000 to 1 in areas with unusually high needs. That threshold helps define the severity of a shortage, but the information cited here does not provide a county-by-county ranking of Georgia's shortages or compare those counties with the locations of the state's medical schools and residency programs. A June 2003 National Rural Health Association policy brief argued that residents trained in rural areas are more likely to practice in rural areas. That is a national policy observation, not a measured retention result for Georgia's current graduates, and the evidence cited here does not identify which Georgia programs have expanded graduate medical education or created rural training pathways.
Why Residency Location Matters
Residency location is an important consideration in discussions about where doctors ultimately practice, although the survey figures alone do not establish how many graduates will later return to Georgia or enter rural practice. Caylee Noggle, president and CEO of the Georgia Hospital Association, said Georgia is not training enough health care workers to meet future demand. “An insurance card does not deliver care; people do,” Noggle said, arguing that the state must expand its workforce to meet patients' needs in every community.
Health care leaders said shortages can mean longer wait times, fewer available services and more pressure on emergency departments, with rural hospitals particularly vulnerable to losing services. Those implications were discussed during a recent workforce-focused session at Health Connect South at the Georgia Aquarium.
Hospitals Turn to Schools for a Fix
Noggle said expansion will require more faculty and funding for training programs. Georgia hospitals are also working with K-12 schools, technical colleges and universities to encourage health care careers and broaden the training pipeline before students reach medical school.
The pressure is national as well. The Association of American Medical Colleges projects a U.S. physician shortage of 54,100 to 139,000 by 2033, including projected shortfalls of 21,400 to 55,200 primary-care physicians and 33,700 to 86,700 specialty-care physicians, according to the AAMC. The organization cites population aging and physician retirements as major drivers and notes that 35% of surveyed U.S. voters said in 2019 that they had trouble finding a doctor during the previous two or three years.
